State of Torpor Games

The SOTG reports are a yearly and monthly overview of the milestones and progression of the Torpor Games journey.

2024

January 2024

  • Games Circle Event 3: Kicked off the year by showcasing The Conformist prototype and Kingdom of Rizia DLC in Berlin, connecting with indie developers and exploring new ideas.

  • Rizia Final Stretch: Final narrative and gameplay content for The Kingdom of Rizia DLC reached pre-release status.

  • Rizia Roleplaying Event Announced: Organized a Discord roleplay event to engage the community.

  • Rizia Soundtrack Reveal: Released a tease for the exclusive Kingdom of Rizia soundtrack by James Spence.

February

  • Rizia Pre-Order Campaign: Launched pre-orders with exclusive bonuses, such as the Royal Gold Bar. 10.000 pre-orders were made by the loyal community supporters.

  • Official Chinese Community Localization Project: Shared the first images of the Chinese localization project from in-game.

  • Final Testing Phase: Completed the internal QA tests and invited the community for closed testing for The Kingdom of Rizia.

  • BIMM University Collaboration: Hosted students and showcased Torpor Games' interdisciplinary development processes.

March

  • Launch of The Kingdom of Rizia: Suzerain's first DLC launched, delving into monarchy, reform, and geopolitical conflict.

  • Record-Breaking Launch: Achieved double the sales within the first hour compared to previous releases, with very positive reviews and over 200 Steam reviews in just days.

  • New Ways to Support: Introduced Supporter and Expanded Edition bundles.

  • Daily Active User Record: Surpassed 13,000 daily users on Steam, an all-time high.

April

  • Steam Milestone: Reached 96,000 monthly active users, the highest in Suzerain’s history.

  • Financial Times Feature: Highlighted by Stephen Bush for its societal impact and engaging gameplay.

  • Gaming Friday Event: Partnered with Berlin Youth Library and Computerspielemuseum Berlin to showcase Suzerain’s potential to promote democracy at the American Memorial Library.

  • UCONN Study Coverage: Suzerain was presented by Assistant Professor of History and used at class for historical narratives.

May

  • Visit to Istanbul: Met with Turkish game VCs, including Ludus, Laton, Alfa Games, and Revo, exploring potential collaborations.

  • A MAZE. Festival in Berlin: Attended with six team members, diving into arthouse indie gaming conversations and exploring innovative game design ideas with fellow creators.

  • Prima Vista Literature Festival: Participated in discussions on politics, art, and gaming with industry figures from Studio ZA/UM, Placeholder Game Works, Obsidian Entertainment, Digimacy in Talinn, and Tartu, Estonia.

  • Nordic Game Conference: Presented The Kingdom of Rizia DLC and engaged investors at the Nordic Capital Summit in Malmö, Sweden.

June

  • Rizia Update 3.0.9: Released a major update featuring polished content, expanded storylines, and gameplay improvements.

  • Torpor Day Celebration: Celebrated The Kingdom of Rizia launch with a team outing in Berlin, including a boat tour and indoor skydiving.

  • Community Milestone: Surpassed 7,000 reviews on Steam, 5,000 on Google Play, and 1,170 on iOS, with record-breaking engagement and revenue growth.

  • Julian Nowak Joins the Team: Welcomed Julian Nowak as a programmer, bringing expertise and energy to enhance Torpor Games' technical capabilities and support ongoing projects.

  • Serenity Forge Partnership: Announced collaboration for a physical vinyl release of Suzerain’s soundtrack in colalboration with Black Screen Records.

July

  • Google Indie Accelerator Graduation: Completed the program with a ceremony at the Google Campus and I/O conference in Bangalore, India.

  • Kimberly Marteau Emerson Visit: Hosted the Human Rights Watch board member to discuss global human rights themes in Suzerain.

  • Community Town Hall: Engaged with fans via a Q&A to discuss mobile updates and future content.

August

  • Gamescom Showcase: Presented The Kingdom of Rizia and The Conformist, attracting industry attention and fostering investor engagement.

  • Indie Intelligence Network Interview: Daichi Saito from Why So Serious? conducted an in-depth interview with Ata Sergey Nowak, exploring Torpor Games' design philosophies and the Suzerain Universe. The interview, facilitated by an interpreter, provided a platform to discuss the cultural and political inspirations behind the games, fostering a deeper connection with Japanese audiences.

  • Seed Round Expansion & Partnerships:

    • Welcomed John Graham, co-founder of Humble Bundle and founder of Elbow Grease Games, as a seed round partner, bringing invaluable expertise in game sales and equity funding for indie studios.

    • Announced a collaboration with Agnitio Capital, led by Shum Singh, to enhance strategic guidance, explore funding opportunities, and support Torpor Games' growth and vision.

  • Rizia Merchandise Launch: Expanded the Suzerain Universe with themed items such as maps and flags.

September

  • Tokyo Game Show Showcase: Displayed The Kingdom of Rizia DLC as part of Selected Indie 80, connecting with superfans ゆえぴこ and 富田勢源, whose contributions have significantly boosted Suzerain's visibility in Japan. Their passion, alongside heartfelt fan interactions, highlighted the profound impact of the Suzerain Universe on its community.

  • German Embassy Event: Attended the 30th jubilee celebration of Berlin and Tokyo's partnership, connecting with cultural and diplomatic leaders.

  • TGS Talent Introductions: Welcomed new team members and highlighted key collaborators shaping the Suzerain Universe:

    • Ame Searle (Marketing Strategist, USA): Leading multi-platform marketing efforts.

    • Michael Nathanael (Quality Assurance Specialist, Indonesia): Longtime community contributor ensuring game quality.

    • Mridul Kashatria (Programmer, India): Tackling technical porting and feature implementation.

    • Nikolaos Ntalianis (Community Moderator, Greece): Enhancing community engagement and health.

    • Maria Bilo (HR & Admin Officer, Ukraine): Streamlining organizational tasks and customer support.

    • Danielle Allum (Producer, UK): Professionalizing production processes and estimations.

  • Key Collaborators Shoutout:

    • John Petridis (3D Artist and Architect in Residence): Elevating visual design with architectural expertise.

    • Laurence Marie Gilbertz (Game Designer): Pioneered the intricate war mechanic for Kingdom of Rizia.

    • İpek Ünal (Character Artist): Continued crafting iconic illustrations defining the visual identity of Suzerain.

October

  • Humanitarian Donation for Lebanon Crisis: Torpor Games donated 500 Euros to the UN World Food Programme to aid those affected by the escalating conflict in Lebanon. This contribution provides up to 1,100 meals for displaced families facing urgent food shortages as winter approaches. Standing against violence, Torpor Games reaffirms its commitment to peace, human dignity, and supporting humanitarian efforts.

  • Games Circle Event 4: Co-hosted in Berlin, showcasing 10 new games and featuring many discussions on the industry and a sponsorship by Articy.

  • Media Recognition: Featured by Gameranx as the top political game and highlighted in "Best Political Games in 2024" by PCGamesN and Gamerant.

  • People & Culture Festival: Showed the Kingdom of Rizia DLC at the festival booth and connected with attendees. Talked on a panel about the industry challenges in Berlin.

November

  • Vilnius GameOn Festival: Delivered a talk on Torpor Games’ journey, shared insights into neurodivergence in game development, and reflected on the creative resilience of communities near the Belarusian border.

  • Award Recognition: The Kingdom of Rizia nominated for "Best Story" at the German Developer Awards.

  • Creative & Cultural Pioneers Award: Torpor Games was honored with the Creative & Cultural Pioneers 2024/2025 Award by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action. This award celebrates the creativity behind Suzerain and The Conformist, a game exploring societal and political change through impactful storytelling and semi-sandbox mechanics.

December

  • Steam Front Page Feature: Celebrated Suzerain's fourth anniversary with front-page placement on Steam, marking a significant milestone for the game.

  • Deutscher Entwicklerpreis & Game Association Meeting: Attended the German Developer Awards in Cologne, celebrating Kingdom of Rizia's nomination and reconnecting with peers. Participated in the German Game Association member meeting to discuss industry developments and changes.

  • Community Growth Milestones:

    • Reddit subreddit r/Suzerain grew from 13,500 to 22,200 members in 2024, with 410,396 visitors, 2.8M votes cast, and over 164,863 posts and comments during the year.

    • Discord server expanded from 5,300 to 8,300 members, fostering deeper community engagement.

  • 42 Berlin Winter Fest Presentation: Presented Torpor Games to next-generation tech talents, sharing insights on the company’s journey and engaging with future developers at the innovative project-based school.

  • Mobile Relaunch Success & App Store Feature: Suzerain's mobile relaunch introduced the Kingdom of Rizia DLC, incorporating all free updates from 2023 and 2024. Featured on the App Store front page in key categories, this update unified content across platforms and attracted over 40,000 active users.

  • Berlin Tech Awards Win: Won the Gaming category at the prestigious Berlin Tech Awards 2024, recognized for pushing the boundaries of political storytelling in games. The win celebrated the team’s creativity, dedication, and impactful work in the gaming industry.

  • Website Stats for 2024:
    Across all Torpor Games websites (including Torpor Games, Suzerain, The Conformist, and Suzerain Universe Codex websites), we achieved a total of 176,000 active visitors and 861,000 page views throughout 2024.

  • Steam Stats for 2024:
    Suzerain and its DLCs generated a total of 103 million page impressions and more than 3.2 million visits on Steam.

  • Major Sales Milestone: Suzerain has surpassed 500,000 copies sold on PC, cementing its place as a hallmark of impactful political gaming.

2023

January 2023

  • Suzerain mobile surpasses 2.000 reviews.

  • Gamerant names Suzerain as one of the top 3 choose your adventure games in a news article.

  • Torpor Games begins puzzle ARG to reveal the Kingdom of Rizia DLC.

  • Suzerain Universe subreddit reaches 6.500 redditors.

  • Rock Paper Shotgun covers The Conformist announcement in a news article.

February

  • Torpor Games donated 250 euros to earthquake victims in the south-eastern Turkey and north-western Syria region through reputable charities like CARE Turkey and Syria, AKUT, and Ahbap

  • Two team members Ioannis and Anett join the Rabbit gamedev camp in Brandenburg to develop the paper prototype of the war mechanic.

  • A community-localized Japanese version of Suzerain became viral in Japan with tweets reaching 1.4+ million impressions and making coverage on local news.

  • Kingdom of Rizia reaches the pre-alpha prototype stage.

  • Torpor Games releases a content and localization interest survey that gets filled out by more than 3.000 people to determine the interests of the community.

March

  • Clementine Laffont joins Torpor Games as community & marketing manager.

  • Torpor Games attends the Hamburg Games Conference and presents the learnings of the Suzerain mobile port.

  • Suzerain 2.0 “Amendment” update reaches Alpha state.

April

  • Torpor Games co-hosts the Games Circle 2 event in the Factory Berlin space.

  • CD Projekt Red Gwent Director praises Suzerain with a tweet.

  • Torpor Games begins a seed investment round and attracts investment from Knife Capital, a Berlin-based micro venture capital company.

  • The initial angel investor of Torpor Games Denis Gier increases his contribution to the company.

May

  • Torpor Games announces the Suzerain 2.0 “Amendment” update and the Kingdom of Rizia DLC through a press release and news.

  • Multiple games news sites cover the big announcement.

  • Torpor Games announces a co-publishing arrangement on PC with publisher Fellow Traveller.

  • Torpor Games signs a business development partnership agreement for the professional B2B versions of its games with Slitherine UK Ltd Limited.

  • Fernando Rizo joins the seed round as a games publishing expert with experiences from Modern Wolf, Hooded Horse, and Raw Fury.

  • Suzerain was part of the LudoNarraCon 2023 festival.

  • Torpor Games attended the A MAZE 2023 festival.

  • Torpor Games visited the Nordic Game festival in Malmö, Sweden with the Medianet delegation from Berlin.

June

  • Torpor Games donates 600 euros to tree plantation efforts in Ethiopia and Columbia.

  • Suzerain: Kingdom of Rizia DLC reaches 6.500 wishlists. Development reaches pre-alpha playable build state.

  • Torpor Games became a member of Medianet Berlin-Brandenburg. A multi-disciplinary and multi-industry creative media organization.

  • Suzerain 2.0 “Amendment” closed testing round wave 1 commences.

  • Ata Sergey Nowak participated in the “Foreign Policy Game” project with the Foundation for Digital Games Culture and the Federal Foreign Office of Germany to promote and discuss the potential of political expression in games.

  • Another games publishing expert joins the seed round as a shareholder and advisor.

July

  • Suzerain 2.0 “Amendment” closed testing rounds wave 2 to 4 commence.

  • Suzerain 2.0 “Amendment” update releases.

  • The Suzerain Universe Codex website gets updated with all the new lore articles from the 2.0 “Amendment” update.

  • Cosmetic Vulpitzer & Support the Developers DLC released.

  • Adam Sharp joins the team as a freelance writer for the Kingdom of Rizia DLC.

  • Ata Sergey Nowak joined the Ludogogy podcast episode to talk about the potential of games in politics and education.

August

  • Suzerain 2.0 “Amendment” update breaks player activity records with more than 4700 players playing during a single day, as well as having a concurrent player record of 1050 nearly as much as the original launch activity three years ago.

  • Suzerain reached 5000 Steam reviews.

  • Torpor Games sponsored a new episodic video of Kaisercat Cinema.

  • Torpor Games landed an interview with Games Capital Berlin.

  • Suzerain patches 2.0.1-2.0.5 post-release patches released.

  • Torpor Games Co-founders visited Devcom 2023 and Gamescom 2023.

  • Torpor Games attended the Gamescom Invest circle after being handpicked by the Gamescom selection committee.

September

  • The Suzerain 2.0.6 patch has been released.

  • Torpor Games attended the Blon Festival in Klaipeda, Lithuania, and held a presentation about the journey of the company.

  • The First Kingdom of Rizia gameplay and Q&A livestream were held with massive appeal.

  • War, royal decrees, resource modifiers features enter technical implementation.

  • Ata Sergey Nowak visited Rome to attend a conference of Slitherine and met with key officials.

  • New voluntary community moderators farmerjoe and marrum joined the community team.

October

  • Torpor Games has donated 300 USD to support vetted organizations such as UNWFP, Anera, PRCS providing crucial humanitarian aid in Gaza.

  • A member of the board of directors of the Human Rights Watch has praised the mission of Torpor Games.

  • Torpor Games was picked to attend the 24th Investors Dinner of Medianet passing a rigorous selection process of a jury.

  • Laurence Gilbertz joined the team as a game designer and Q&A.

  • Ata Sergey Nowak attended a podcast by Medianet called “I Play, Therefore I Am”

  • Torpor Games revealed the new war mechanic feature in a new livestream.

  • A community fan art contest for the flags of the Confederacy of Yarktralis and the Federation of Anrakan Isles is held and after many rounds of voting the winners were:

    • Yarktralis Flag Winner: @Evenski  

    • Anrakan Islands Flag Winner: @merely1man

November

  • Torpor Games begins initial R&D work for future localization pipelines.

  • Suzerain official Chinese localization test project begins in partnership with University of Adeleide.

  • Suzerain mobile reaches 450.000 installs and passes 5300 reviews.

  • Torpor Games develops a new professional B2B pitch for the Suzerain product.

  • Torpor Games visits Game Connection during Paris Games Week and presents The Conformist in a pitch session.

  • First Suzerain: Kingdom of Rizia closed testing wave begins. The alpha stage was reached.

  • Torpor Games attends the Games Ground festival in Berlin and Ilke Karademir moderates a panel about games and their educational potential.

  • Suzerain subreddit surpasses 12.000 members.



December

  • Suzerain: Kingdom of Rizia DLC release date announced.

  • The war mechanic feature is feature-locked.

  • Suzerain: Kingdom of Rizia's new trailer released and store page updates.

  • The Suzerain Universe Codex has surpassed 650.000 clicks in the past 12 months of activity.

  • Suzerain: Kingdom of Rizia Original Soundtrack page released.

  • Suzerain: Kingdom of Rizia reaches 25.000 wishlists on Steam.

2022

January 2022
- Suzerain mobile core development ends.
- Sordland national anthem vote ends with ‘‘Dawn March’’ by the 167th yes voter (Lune Crackham) winning the contest.

February
- Suzerain mobile community testing begins with 60+ volunteers.
- Torpor Games marketing begins a secret ARG campaign with the release of the 1932 portrait of Tarquin Soll.
- Torpor Games condemns acts of war and violence regarding the events occurred in February 2022.

March
- Ioannis Petridis joins the team as a 3D Artist and Architect.
- Torpor Games donated €250 to the Ukrainian Red Cross.
- Torpor Games planted trees with €400 in the National Park Sierra de la Macarena in Colombia via the non-profit initiative gamesforest.club.
- Torpor attends a video interview by a local initiative supporting Berlin indie developers games:net.

April
- Torpor Games merch store opens with seven items.
- The Conformist first concept prototype development concludes.
- Suzerain mobile community testing concludes.
- Suzerain Discord server new moderation rules pass to improve the community communications.
- Suzerain becomes part of Humble Choice Month and reaches thousands of new users.
- Torpor Games pitches Suzerain and The Conformist to the Albanian government delegation, including Prime Minister Edi Rama at Factory Berlin

May
- Clare Goodwin joins Torpor Games as Marketing Manager.
- Suzerain mobile polishing and improvement pass begins.
- The Conformist first concept prototype review begins.
- Torpor Games attends AMAZE.

June
- Suzerain patch 1.1.9 is released on all PC stores.
- Suzerain mobile polishing and improvement pass ends.
- The Conformist first concept prototype review ends.
- Suzerain is available for -50% off for the first time.
- Community interest survey is launched, and the responses indicate strong demand for content.
- Project Amendment and Project Toras begin concept and planning phases.
- Torpor Games attends INDIGO 22.

July
- Suzerain Nintendo Switch version patch 1.1.0 released with bug fixes and improvements.
- Suzerain becomes part of Amazon Prime Gaming offering, reaching thousands of new players.
- The Conformist second concept is proposed. Vertical slice pre-production and design begins.
- Torpor Games joins the House of Games project initiative of Berlin game organizations as an initiator

August
- Suzerain Universe Codex the official wiki of Torpor Games launches.
- Torpor Game’s first entire team gathering in Berlin with all members.
- Torpor Games attends a panel of the Federal Foreign Office of Germany’s project.
- Torpor Games moves to a larger office table and procures more equipment.
- Torpor Games attends Gamescom 2022.

September
- The Conformist first twine game is released as part of the ARG.
- One of the original writers of Suzerain, Rachel Glassberg, rejoins the team.
- The Conformist vertical slice design continues.
- Project Amendment and Project Toras start entering design phase.
- Joni van der Leeuw joins Torpor Games as a business developer for Suzerain.
- Torpor Games attends Reboot Develop Blue 2022.
- Factory Berlin covers the Torpor Games team with a promotional video.

October
- The Conformist second twine game is released as part of the ARG. The ARG is solved by the community.
- The Conformist website is launched.
- Suzerain extended map 1836 version is revealed.
- Rachel Glassberg re-joins as a writer and narrative designer.
- The merch store receives three items with company branding.
- Anett Jenichen joins Torpor Games as an Artist.
- Torpor Games co-hosts a game meet-up in Berlin.

November
- Suzerain mobile launch date of 8th of December 2022 is announced, mobile announce trailer is released.
- Torpor Games announces self-publishing on mobile for the first time as a studio.
- Project Amendment and Project Toras begin their development phases.
- The Conformist is officially announced to the world.
- Suzerain's original 2D character artist, Ipek Ünal rejoins the team.
- Suzerain reaches 4000 reviews on Steam.

December
- State of Torpor Games Livestream broadcast and live question & answer.
- Suzerain mobile launches on iOS and Android smartphones and tablets.
- Suzerain is featured on the Apple App Store
- Suzerain Universe Map of The Antacean 1954 version is revealed.
- Suzerain Nintendo Switch physical collaboration with Serenity Forge announced.
- Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg announces the production funding grant for The Conformist, the highest-ever by the city of Berlin.
- Suzerain mobile passes 60,000 installations on iOS and Android devices before the year ends
- Torpor Games signs co-publishing agreement with publisher Fellow Traveller for PC.


2021

December 2020
- Suzerain launched on Steam, GOG, and Humble on Dec 4, 2020, and was immediately widely acclaimed by fans and the press.
- First reviews come in, giving Suzerain a Metacritic score of 81 and praise by prestigious press outlets such as Vice, Rock Paper Shotgun, PC Gamer, and Spiegel.
- Received angel investment, as well government grant to port Suzerain.

January 2021
- End Game Summary screen and customizable Anton are added.
- Publisher initial investment recouped.

February
- Suzerain breaks its previous record and reaches 460+ concurrent players on Steam.
- Largest patch 1.1 released.

March and April
- Suzerain wins Best Expert Game at the German Game Awards.
- Torpor Games runs its first fan art contest, picking three winners: @Pyrde's Sordish language website sordish.org, @Dy's illustration of the 4 Presidents, and @IngsocDmnt's Wikipedia page of Sordland.
- Irene Preuss joins the Torpor Games team as Marketing Manager.
- Suzerain participates in the most crucial festival for narrative games, LudoNarraCon.
- The Conformist (second-flagship title) first concept is finished and application to Medienboard funding sent off.

May
- Suzerain reaches 2,000 reviews on Steam.
- Suzerain launches on the Epic Store.

June
- The Fateful Hour Bundle is launched on Steam, together with The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante and Yes, Your Grace.
- Daniel Emig joins the Torpor Games team as a Programmer.
- Prototype funding for The Conformist confirmed.

July
- Suzerain wins The People's Choice Award at the Games for Change Awards.
- Juan Franco Lagar joins the Torpor Games team as a Programming and QA Intern.
- Held a successful Hearts of Iron IV Community event with the dev team.

August
- Second-largest patch to date, 1.1.6 releases. Patch 1.1.7 launches shortly after.
- The We Live in a Society Bundle launches on Steam, together with Death and Taxes, Orwell, Beholder, Do Not Feed the Monkeys, Not For Broadcast, and Mind Scanners.
- Torpor Games team gets a dedicated office.

September
- Steam Rich Presence is enabled.
- Suzerain launched on the Nintendo Switch and received immediate praise from the press.
- Tokyo Game Show selects Suzerain for their Indie Exhibit.
- Kamila Shirinova joins the team as Art and Programming Intern.
- The Conformist prototype pre-production begins.

October
- The Conformist first concept prototype production begins.
- Stijn Verstraete joins the Torpor Games team as 3D Artist.
- Achievements added to GOG.

November
- Suzerain is nominated in 3 categories in the German Developer Awards (Best Game, Best Design, and Best Story), as well as in 2 categories in the GermanDevDays Indie Awards (Best Game and Best Story)
- We reach 3,000 reviews on Suzerain’s Steam page.

December 2021
- The Conformist first concept development ramps up.
- Suzerain patch 1.1.8 is released on all PC stores.
- Sordland national anthem community contest begins.