Dear Citizens of the Suzerainverse,
Welcome to our April 2026 Broadcast! From community highlights to ongoing projects, we wanted to share a few things that have been happening over the past month.
In this edition, Ata walks us through the latest updates from development, shares updates about the Suzerain Universe moderation team, takes a look at a community-created world map, and brings you up to speed on all the clues uncovered in our ARG so far.
Development Update from Ata
Hello everyone,
April was a wild month at Torpor. Across the studio we’ve been pushing forward on multiple fronts, and it finally feels like several long-running efforts are beginning to come together in tangible ways. There’s still a mountain of work ahead of us, but there’s also a growing sense that the foundations we’ve been building are solid and worth expanding on.
Project Fulcrum made some of its biggest strides yet through closed internal playtesting focused on the core gameplay loop and player interactions. After many rounds of iteration, redesigns, experiments, and long discussions, we’ve reached a point where the core experience feels strong enough to truly build upon. That has been a big morale boost for the team. We’re now moving through reported bugs, documenting improvement opportunities, and preparing for the next major milestone. Some members of the dev team spent countless hours replaying the build over and over, and despite all of us seeing every rough edge and unfinished piece, many of us genuinely enjoyed what we were playing already. That’s usually a good sign. There are still many ideas on the table, some concrete and some still taking shape, but step by step the project is becoming more confident in what it wants to be.
Project Aperture also went through some important reassessments this month. The project has now entered a broader quality and coherence pass, with a lot of focus going into narrative design, character nuance, and making sure the different plotlines truly connect in meaningful ways. This experience is aiming for something very particular tonally and structurally, and that means spending extra time making sure every component supports the larger whole.
We also officially concluded the project’s newly expanded 2D character art pipeline, which marks a major internal milestone. With the pipeline now in place, we can begin properly integrating visuals and getting a clearer sense of the overall player experience. On that note, we are preparing for an internal development playtest next month that will cover roughly three-quarters of Aperture’s existing content. We’re excited to finally experience the game more directly from the player’s perspective and evaluate it with greater clarity. At the same time, there are still areas we are not fully satisfied with yet, especially regarding the systemic overlay, interconnected narrative structures, and how the overall experience concludes. Those areas are continuing to evolve through iteration and experimentation.
On top of that, we’ve begun collaborating with several external partners in visual communication and marketing to help us communicate the soul of both Aperture and Fulcrum to players. It’s exciting to work with people who genuinely understand what we’re trying to create and want to help bring those concepts to life.
The Conformist also saw meaningful progress. A new lead artist joined the project and is currently establishing the backbone of the visual style and long-term art pipeline. Over the coming months we’ll gradually onboard more people to prototype different components and validate our experiments before fully committing to larger production efforts.
We’re also very happy to welcome back a previous designer from the original release of Suzerain, who has now rejoined the studio as a Technical Game Designer. Their experience with 3D scenes, quest implementation, and data structure building is incredibly valuable as the studio continues tackling larger and more technically demanding challenges. Alongside this, we’ve been outlining new characters, experimenting with new RPG interaction systems, and exploring ways to push certain boundaries in our own Torpor way. A lot of this work is still rough and foundational, similar to the very early days of Suzerain, so there isn’t much visually polished to show yet, but there are already some exciting surprises taking shape internally.
Project Vanguard moved forward more quietly this month, though meaningful progress was still made. Initial narrative design work was completed for several early-turn plotlines, while two of the project’s core features advanced through concept drafting alongside early visual and gameplay experimentation. A third feature has now entered its own concept phase as well, though it still requires additional narrative design work to fully ground it within the world and structure of the game.
Development on Vanguard is intentionally progressing at a slower pace for now as we continue searching for the right people to join the project. We are currently evaluating a number of talented producers who could help realize the project’s ambitions. Our goal is to establish a steadier and more sustainable development pace over the summer months.
Overall, things continue to move quickly inside the studio. We are still learning constantly, still experimenting, and still trying to grow without losing the spirit that brought us here in the first place. That spirit drives us to keep pushing forward, to improve, and to pursue the craft with complete passion. We want to make the games we would love to play, games that challenge and provoke players through grounded political experiences.
We truly appreciate your support. See you in the next update.
Passing the Torch to a New Chapter
We wanted to share a small update about the Suzerain Universe moderation team.
After more than two and a half years as Head Moderator of the Suzerain Universe community, Nikolaos Ntalianis (Marrum) is stepping down from the role and will continue supporting the team as a volunteer moderator.
Over the years, Nikolaos has helped shape and grow the community across Discord and Reddit, and we’re incredibly grateful for all the time, care, and energy he’s put into making the community what it is today. We’re also very happy that he’ll still be around as part of the team.
At the same time, we’re excited to welcome Gabriel Sanchewski (Trance) as our new Head Moderator. Gabriel has been part of the wider Torpor family for quite some time, and we’re thrilled to have him stepping into the role. He brings a wealth of experience in community moderation and management, including more than a decade at Paradox Interactive, and we’re excited to him on board.
Piecing Together the World of Suzerain
The Suzerain community has long been asking for a full map of the world. While there’s no official world map from Torpor just yet, dedicated community members have spent countless hours studying lore, analyzing in-game details, and piecing together information from across the universe to create a cohesive vision of the world.
And now, we’re excited to share a fan-created Suzerain World Map by Dutch Chief of Ministry!
THE SOURCE, So Far
When we launched THE SOURCE in late 2025, it marked the beginning of an ongoing mystery that’s been unfolding across our community ever since.
Since then, lore fragments and hidden clues have surfaced in unexpected places, each one adding to a growing web of discoveries. For those following closely, every detail could be another step toward uncovering the full truth.
But we know keeping track of every clue hasn’t been easy.
To help investigators connect the dots, we’ve put together a complete guide to every known clue and discovery so far.
ACT I Puzzles
Clue #1: Here
Clue #2: Here
Clue #3: Here
ACT II - Part I Puzzles
Clues: Check the Codex, this Broadcast, and here.
ACT II - Part II Puzzles
Clue #1: Here
Clue #2: Here
Clue #3: “Read the news closely.”
Clue #4: Here
Clue #5:“Search where sluggishness can be found.”
Clue #6: Final Part II clue coming next week.
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Until next time, dear Citizens. Take care!
Dear Citizens of the Suzerainverse,
Welcome to our March 2026 Broadcast! We’ve been busy since our last check-in, and we’re excited to share what we’ve been working on.
In this edition, we sit down with Ata for the latest development updates, take a look at localization progress, revisit the recent Torpor livestream, and spotlight some of the incredible things happening within the Suzerain community.
Development Update from Ata
Hello dear fans, hope you are all doing well.
We have been pushing on all fronts. The company and organization are improving with new structural changes that help us organize better and support a growing team. We made solid progress on our procedures, policies, and overall culture, all of which is helping Torpor prepare for the next stage. This also includes new hires joining step by step each month. We are excited to keep building teams that allow us to ship our projects at the quality we aim for.
Suzerain Live has also been progressing. A new patch has been in the works for a while and is coming with bug fixes, polish, some new lore, and various smaller changes. It is currently in internal testing, and if everything goes well, it will move through the usual steps in the near future toward release across all platforms. As the game has grown, it has also become more complex and demanding to manage, but at the same time the community has grown with it, which makes every bit of that effort worth it.
Regarding our projects, we have begun the final internal development testing of the Project Fulcrum prototype before moving it into internal QA testing. This will help us gather structured feedback and identify where improvements are needed. It is a big step forward. We are continuing strong iterations on UX challenges, and the content is being reviewed from multiple angles. Some recent design decisions have had a noticeable impact on the overall flow, and we are looking forward to building further on those.
Project Aperture is moving into its final content stages. There is ongoing polish and iteration on decisions and how different narrative components connect with each other. We are also preparing for the first round of internal development testing, after which it will move into internal QA. It will be exciting to finally experience it in a more complete, player-facing form outside of our usual tools. More art has also been integrated over the past month, which has been great to see.
The Conformist is progressing as well. We made further advances on the RPG and skills systems, along with continued iteration on the core gameplay design. Work is also ongoing on a new tech tool that will serve as a database backbone for the project. A lot of groundwork is being laid now to support what comes next.
Things are moving quickly, and there is a lot changing day to day. It is a bit wild, but in a good way. We are looking forward to sharing more with you soon. We are getting closer to reveals, and while we still want everything to meet a certain quality bar, we are also mindful of finding the right balance between progress and perfection, as we have always tried to do.
As long as you are with us on this journey and continue to support us, we believe we can make it.
Thank you for being there for us. See you in the next update.
Work With Us at Torpor Games
We’re also excited to share that Torpor Games is growing. From time to time, we open up new roles across different areas of development, and we’d love to see experts of our own community apply. Suzerain has always been shaped by passionate and talented people, and that includes many of you. If you’re interested in working with us, you can check out our current openings on our careers page.
We’re also interested in hearing from people for more speculative roles. If you don’t see a position that fits, feel free to send an open application to jobs@torporgames.com. We’ll soon be looking for freelance QA support from our community, as well as new community moderators, so don’t hesitate to reach out if that sounds like you!
Localization Progress Update
It’s been a while since we last shared an update on localization, and we’re excited to say progress has been steady. We’ve been working closely with an incredibly dedicated Chinese volunteer team who are fully localizing Sordland, covering a script of over one million words. This goes far beyond direct translation, with careful adaptation of in-game terminology, political concepts, and cultural nuances to ensure everything feels natural and authentic. This phase is especially important to ensure that the localized experience is as seamless and immersive as the original.
We’re now preparing an internal branch of Suzerain for the QA phase, where we’ll focus on polishing the experience: fixing text issues, formatting, and contextual inconsistencies across the game’s many narrative paths. Once this process is complete and everything is in good shape, we’ll move on to supporting additional languages.
March Livestream Recap
At the end of March, we hosted our first livestream of 2026, with Ata and Jonathan joining the community to answer some of the most frequently asked questions. The session covered a range of topics, from deeper dives into Suzerain’s lore to updates on upcoming projects, along with a few hints and discussions surrounding The Source ARG.
The Q&A itself was held on our Discord server, giving community members a chance to participate directly, while the stream was broadcast simultaneously on Twitch and YouTube. If you weren’t able to tune in live, you can still catch the full VOD on YouTube.
From the Corners of the Community
We’re really lucky to have such a passionate community around Suzerain. It never stops amazing us how creative you all get: whether it’s fan art, deep-dive discussions, or entirely new takes on the universe of Suzerain.
We love seeing what you come up with, so we wanted to share some of it with everyone. Here are a few of our favorite things we’ve spotted around the internet over the past couple of months.
Pax Astra
A political sim RPG space opera with 4X elements, inspired by Suzerain and Stellaris.
👉 Take a Look
Suzerain: The New Order
A concept reimagines Suzerain in the style of the Hearts of Iron IV mod, The New Order, depicting a darker, more dystopian timeline for the USP, PFJP, and NFP parties.
👉 Take a Look
The Final War
A fictional movie idea for Sordland's first escathological film, The Final War. A war-time propaganda movie set in 1957 by the director Danol Morgna.
👉 Take a Look
Political Actor Ranking
A ranking focusing solely on how effective each character is as a politician (separate from likability or personal agreement), with some pretty good community discussions too.
👉 Take a Look
Please note that the aforementioned have no affiliation with Torpor Games.
Truth Drew its First Breath
Where truth is guarded and falsehood denied,
When was the defender of truth first alive?
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Until next time, dear Citizens. Take care!
Dear Citizens of the Suzerainverse,
Welcome to our February 2026 Broadcast! Since our last check-in, we’ve been working on some exciting things we can’t wait to share with you.
In this edition, we’re catching up with Ata for development updates, previewing audio from upcoming projects, and exploring some of the community’s most interesting conspiracies around The Source.
Development Update from Ata
Hello everyone,
February passed quickly, and we made solid progress across several fronts. Along the way we encountered new challenges that we are now working through. The difference between the early days of Torpor and Torpor today is that we now have the resources and the cushion to address issues more steadily, thanks to the support of you, our community, and the backing of our investors.
Project Aperture writing has continued to move forward, though we still have some iteration to do on the narrative design. The later parts of the experience need more work to really land player expression and the different outcomes that can come from it. Our new writers have now onboarded and are already helping with that push. We are excited about giving players the chance to experience a few places they have not seen before. Meanwhile the community unraveling the ARG is getting closer to its next stage, and we are curious to see what people think once the next revelations start appearing.
Project Fulcrum has received several more iterations since the last update. We are getting close to completing most of the core work around the game design. There are always new things that come up, but it now feels like we have worked through most of the big questions around which elements belong in the experience. UX and UI iterations are continuing and remain a high priority, helping communicate details more clearly to the player. Some recent balancing changes and design adjustments made the game feel much better, and we are continuing to detail how different outcomes shape the overall experience. We are also approaching our closed testing phase, which will move the project beyond purely internal testing.
The Conformist has also made progress. On the narrative design side we are tackling some fundamental questions around how the final version of the RPG systems should look. The core game design feature has advanced, and the next step is turning it into a proof-of-concept version that we can actually test. Seeing it in action will help us identify issues early, especially around AI behaviour and system calculations. It is difficult to fully understand how something works until it can be played, and how opposing groups behave will be central to the experience. Alongside this we are also setting clearer targets and improving our meeting and production processes so we can make better use of our time as the team grows.
The images above and below are some early work-in-progress concept explorations for levels in The Conformist. These depict the Old Town, the oldest district and historic centre of the original city of Hol, from which the city later expanded. The images explore potential buildings, structures, and environmental components.
On the team side, a new Lead Producer has joined to help with the organizational and coordination challenges that come with the next phase of our evolution as a games company. At the same time we are speaking with trailer and branding artists to support some upcoming marketing pushes. Our hiring pipeline has also been improving, and we are reviewing candidates who could join the team and help strengthen both development and delivery. Balancing quality and time is always one of the harder parts of game development, but we are working through it step by step.
Another event coming up soon is the Shadows of Eastern Merkopa campaign. The LARP organized within the Suzerain Universe is an impressive effort, and we are looking forward to seeing the media and stories that come out of it. Around the same time, the founders of Torpor will be traveling to Albania to conduct political research, meeting with politicians, parliamentarians, regulators, and professors. After earlier research trips that involved meeting political figures in the UK and the US, it will be valuable to spend time in the Balkans and understand the region more directly.
Overall we are pushing forward on many fronts with steady progress. Building games while building a team at the same time is never simple. Suzerain itself came together through a lot of challenges and persistence. That same mindset still drives the studio today. We are here because we care deeply about the work, and we intend to keep building the worlds we believe in.
The Sounds of Aperture and Fulcrum
While we’re still deep in development on our upcoming projects and not quite ready to start revealing them just yet, we can at least share a small taste of what’s been happening behind the scenes. Here’s some more snippets of the fantastic audio work from Torpor’s audio and sound designer, James Spence.
We’d love to hear what kind of vibes these tracks give you, and whether you can guess what they might hint at. Take a listen:
Conspiracies Of The Source
As players on Discord banded together to unravel the mystery of our ARG, The Source, theories quickly began to multiply. What began as a few scattered clues quickly turned into a full-blown investigation, with players trading ideas, testing wild hypotheses, and carefully connecting threads in search of hidden meaning.
Naturally, we at Torpor couldn’t resist stirring the pot a little. Watching the speculation unfold has been half the fun. Here are some of our favorite conspiracies about what The Source might mean and how it could be hinting at our upcoming projects:
👉 Join The Suzerain Universe Discord
A Small Contribution to Global Relief Efforts
At Torpor Games, we try to give back each year by supporting humanitarian efforts where help is most urgently needed. To start 2026, we donated €250 to the Yemen Humanitarian Fund, €250 to the Myanmar Fund, and €500 to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) Fund through the UN’s country-based pooled fund system, which supports organizations providing life-saving assistance on the ground.
In Yemen, *23.1 million people are projected to need humanitarian assistance in 2026 amid ongoing conflict, economic collapse, and recurrent disease outbreaks. In Myanmar, *16.2 million people are expected to require assistance, while more than *4 million remain displaced as conflict and instability persist. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, *14.9 million people are estimated to need humanitarian assistance in 2026. Meanwhile, *26.6 million people are projected to face crisis-level food insecurity or worse between January and June 2026, and *5.28 million are internally displaced.
The needs in these regions remain immense, and these pooled funds help ensure resources reach trusted local partners delivering food, health care, shelter, protection, and other essential support to people who need it most.
*approximate numbers
The Findings: Part I Clue
As the old Kyrutean proverb goes: Those who know letters, see numbers.
After all, talk isn’t cheap. In fact, you could say it’s Scandaleux.
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Until next time, dear Citizens. Take care!
Dear Citizens of the Suzerainverse,
Welcome to our December & January 2026 Broadcast! We’ve got plenty of exciting updates to share since we last checked in, and we’ve been eager to bring you up to speed on what we’ve been working on.
In this edition, you’ll hear the latest development updates from Ata, get a fresh look at how localization is progressing, and dive into our brand-new ARG.
Development Update from Ata
Hello everyone, 2026 has started with plenty of action for Torpor.
First off, we hit some important soft goals. Project Aperture has crossed the 50 percent mark in content development. This progress makes us very excited, and as we continue refining and improving it, we’re seeing a lot of potential opening up that we can still develop further. Two additional writers are joining the project to help refine and expand the story. As we move forward, strong narrative design becomes increasingly important, covering plot holes, strengthening structure, and exploring high-potential paths more thoroughly. There has also been ongoing development and discussion around the game systems and inner workings of the experience. This is still at a fairly early stage, but it’s advancing step by step alongside the content.
Project Fulcrum has also seen strong progress. We have been fixing bugs and working toward a stable state. We are completing a first prototype balancing pass and have added new content and features to deepen the experience. On the technical side, revisions were made to help ideas fit into cleaner structures that will better support future changes. We’ve started clearing open questions around edge cases and angles we hadn’t fully considered before, supported by more precise design processes and improved implementation pipelines. A new UI/UX designer and a senior game designer have joined the project to help push things forward, and we’re gearing up for our first closed playtest soon. Art has also made progress on two Fulcrum characters, which has been very exciting to see.
Audio has been making solid experimental progress on both Fulcrum and Aperture. On Fulcrum in particular, experimental music design has begun as we explore new avenues and opportunities, whereas on Aperture, we made a small audio pivot to better reflect the mental state of the player character. Here’s an early glimpse into the world James has been building for Project Fulcrum:
On the tech side, we’ve finally implemented a unified CSV file system that imports languages into Suzerain when provided in the correct data format. A language selection interface has been added, and language swapping has been tested successfully. This new infrastructure allows us to hot-swap languages live in the game using a shortcut key.
The Conformist has restarted its pre-production phase. Three new staff members have joined to help define core principles and narrow things down toward a basic prototype. We’re excited to refine the concept and revisit older ideas, sorting through what worked and what didn’t so we can clear the path forward. It still feels like early days, but in a good way. There have been proposals around the core game flow and features and how they interact with the wider experience, and there’s still a lot to figure out before we can fully start building. Tackling this with new expertise and fresh eyes has been energizing, especially as it helps validate our direction. One of the new team members is an industry legend, which humbles us. It will be a long journey, but it’s good to see the project properly underway again.
All in all, it’s been a wild and fun rollercoaster so far. Being able to chase our ideas with real support from the community and backers, with momentum, means a lot to us. This year is shaping up to be an exciting one, and we’re looking forward to showing you more as things take shape.
The Source
You may have noticed a wave of new lore posts appearing across our community channels. These are all part of The Source, our new ARG that first appeared as a hidden Easter Egg in our 2025 recap. What began as a tease has now opened the door to a deeper mystery to unravel.
The community is already hard at work connecting clues, sharing findings, and forming theories about where it all leads. ACT I is ready to play now! Dive in, investigate, and see what you uncover. The next ACT is coming soon.
👉 Play The Source
Localization Progress Update
After a period of radio silence on the topic, we’re thrilled to finally share some exciting news: localization is making strong, steady progress behind the scenes. Getting the tools fully operational was no small feat, but that challenge is now behind us, and it’s opened the door to the next big step.
We’re officially gearing up to bring in our community leads for the QA phase, working together to make sure the new CSV format integration plays nicely with existing volunteer work and coordinating with leads on how to integrate languages into the game. While we’re not ready to lock in timelines just yet, momentum is building fast. Keep your eyes peeled for what’s coming next.
Want to be part of helping to shape the future of localization? Be a part the Suzerain Universe Discord and join the community-led localization channels.
Starting 2026 in the Spotlight
We’ve kicked off 2026 on a high note, with some excellent online coverage for Suzerain. We were thrilled to discover that British economist Gary Stevenson, better known as Gary’s Economics, is not just a fan of political games, but a Suzerain enthusiast. On an episode of the Serious Danger podcast, he discusses how Suzerain simulates taxation and the real economic and political consequences that flow from those choices.
A big thank-you to askythatsmoreblue for sharing the clip on the Suzerain Universe subreddit.
Secondly, Ata sat down with Theo Dezalay, a journalist at the independent, nonprofit French outlet Mediapart, for an in-depth conversation about how Suzerain captures the corrosive nature of power, and the immense difficulty of governing responsibly within a deeply divided political landscape.
The article is in French, but it’s well worth reading with the help of a translation app. Here’s a translated snippet:
”Depending on the chosen method and the electoral promises made at the start of the game, each session will be very different and will not offer the same challenges: players will face different obstacles to rebuild the army, accelerate economic recovery, or quell the crisis of the Bludist secessionists. Nevertheless, Suzerain defends a point of view, a conclusion that is always reached naturally: that politics is a world of compromise, an enemy of radicalism and change.”
The Road to Political Research
As part of our political research, Ata will be meeting with key figures across Europe, from Human Rights Watch directors in Berlin to former 10 Downing Street communications leaders in London, as well as representatives of the Albanian government.
He’ll also be in conversation with a well-known pollster who successfully predicted the 2024 U.S. elections. These are exciting research opportunities for the team.
Celebrating, Torpor-Style
It’s not all fun and games. Sometimes, it’s just fun. To mark the end of the year, and welcome a new one, we got together for a couple of team outings. You may notice a recurring theme: good food and good drinks.
One highlight was a visit to Berlin’s Le Petit Chef, where we tried a truly unique dining concept. Over the course of three hours, the team enjoyed four courses, each introduced by an interactive tabletop projection that brought the meal to life before it arrived. It was a one-of-a-kind evening, where the laughs easily outshone the food.
For our 2026 gathering, we decided to switch things up and lean into something a little more refined. Naturally, it still began with dinner and drinks. With full bellies, we headed out for a dose of culture at the Berliner Philharmoniker, taking in a live performance of Dvořák’s From the New World. Hearing it played in person was a fitting way to spark inspiration for the year ahead.
Falling Into Place
IX: 20
Until next time, dear Citizens. Take care!