Every Thursday, the Epic Games Store unlocks a new game for users to have entirely for free. This week is no different than any other, as Epic Games Store users can pick up the popular ARPG Torchlight 2. It's available to get right now and will remain available through July 23 at 8:00 am.
Torchlight 2 is a classic ARPG heavily inspired by the Diablo franchise. The original Torchlight was released in 2009 and was well-received, but lacked multiplayer due to development limitations. Torchlight 2 delivered the full experience that ARPG fans desired, with full online cooperative multiplayer. It isn't a radically different experience than other ARPGs like Diablo, but it delivers a competent modern version of the genre and that's all that many players were looking for.
The reason for Torchlight 2 being shared on Epic Games Store for free is likely two-fold. First, the game is likely reaching the end of its lifespan, as more and more ARPG alternatives are released and Torchlight 2 ages. But more importantly, a new Torchlight sequel is currently in development. Torchlight 3 is currently available in Early Access on Steam, so making Torchlight 2 freely available is a sort of advertisement for the new game.
As per usual, Epic has also revealed the next free offering that store users can look forward to. In a week's time, two new free games will be unlocked for Epic Games Store users. Those two games are Next Up Hero and Tacoma, which will be available for free from July 23 through July 30.
Next Up Hero is an isometric dungeon crawler that can be played cooperatively with a friend. Players pick one of the game's many heroes and dungeon crawl to gather loot and unlock progression. Tacoma is the follow-up to Fullbright's 2013 hit Gone Home. It too is a calm adventure game focusing on exploration and narrative, but this time set in a mysterious space station.
Weekly free games on the Epic Games Store appears to be Epic's continued plan for the foreseeable future. In 2019, Epic had announced that it planned to stop putting out weekly free games, only to change its mind. Apparently giving out free games works pretty well for getting new users onto the platform. Epic Games Store users certainly aren't complaining.