Torment: Tides of Numenera delayed again, now coming in early 2017

Torment: Tides of Numenera, the Kickstarter-funded role-playing game from InXile Entertainment, is now scheduled to be released in the first quarter of 2017, the studio announced yesterday.

InXile had been working toward a late 2016 release, and CEO Brian Fargo said in a Kickstarter update that "we could crunch and rush to get the game out around November." However, InXile believes that doing so "would lead to a less polished game," and would affect the localization work that the company is undertaking.

"We feel that getting a good quality translation of such a deep narrative experience is very important for a large percentage of our players," said Fargo, noting that Torment now contains more than 1 million words. In addition to localizing the text, InXile is still tuning up the game's systems, artwork, quests and more.

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InXile has pushed back the release of Torment on numerous occasions, including as far back as during the game's $4.19 million Kickstarter campaign, when the studio said the project would miss its original launch window of December 2014 by "a few months." In June 2014, InXile delayed Torment to late 2015; in October 2015, the studio said the game would arrive in 2016.

"We know it's frustrating to wait a little longer, but we've come this far," said Fargo. "I remember the pain of moving the release of Baldur's Gate 1 effectively into January in much the same way, but that ended up being the right move and we all know how fondly it is remembered today. These types of trade-offs are never easy, but from day one it's been our goal to make Torment the masterpiece you deserve."

As a make-good for the delay, InXile released the game's existing beta version yesterday to all Kickstarter backers who contributed at a level that included a copy of the game.

Along with digital versions on Linux, Mac and Windows PC, Torment will be available at retail worldwide courtesy of Techland Publishing, Techland said today. It is the first game Techland has announced for its new Techland Publishing label. The boxed product "will be enhanced with a number of physical and digital bonuses that will ease players into the unique world of Numenera and further increase their immersion in the story," said Techland in a press release.

For more on Torment: Tides of Numenera, check out the beta gameplay footage from January 2016 below.