State of Torpor Games

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

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.
- 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

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.