Dear Citizens of the Suzerainverse,

We’re excited to share a new press highlight we can’t recommend enough! Torpor Games’ Co-Founder and Managing Director, Ata Sergey Nowak, sat down with Japan-based publication I.N.T. Magazine while they were in Cologne during Gamescom last year to discuss Suzerain and the deep ties between politics and games. We’ve been looking forward to this feature for a long time, and it’s finally here!

In conversation with independent game critic Jini and Why So Serious? Inc. CEO Daichi Saito, Ata reflects on how Suzerain was designed to capture the moral complexity of leadership. The interview dives into his background in history and political science, and how these influences shaped the game’s exploration of universal political dilemmas within a fictional setting.

For long-time Suzerain fans, a quick note: this interview was conducted in August 2024, so some priorities have shifted since then.

I.N.T. Magazine describes itself as a platform for learning from “others” across the globe in order to inspire deeper, more compelling games. It was a real honor to speak with Jini and Daichi, and we’re thrilled to share the results with you.

👉 Read the full interview here: https://int-magazine.com/interview/ata-sergey-nowak-of-suzerain/

Note: All Japanese translations in the feature use unofficial Japanese localization mods.
Until next time, dear Citizens. Take care!

Glovurius axa Rizia!

A’Morgna her Coren!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2352340/Suzerain_Kingdom_of_Rizia/ Check out our Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, Discord and our newsletter to get the latest breaking news for Suzerain and The Conformist.

Dear Citizens of the Suzerainverse,

Welcome to our August 2025 Broadcast! It’s been a whirlwind month at Torpor! We’ve reached a major milestone and kicked off some exciting community initiatives.

In this update, we’ll cover our newest console release, recap those community highlights, and share an important development from Torpor’s Ata.

Hello everyone,

We’ve been busy working hard, and to give you a clearer picture of what we’re up to before our official reveal campaigns, we’ve decided to use codenames for the projects in development. The next nine months will be very eventful for the Suzerain Universe, and we’re incredibly excited and focused on making it all happen, and even more excited to celebrate these major milestones together with you.

The company is currently working on four conceptualized projects. Drum roll... First is Project Aperture, now in early production, a narrative experience about shedding light on the unseen. Next is Project Fulcrum, which is in prototyping and explores themes of power, control, and the decisive moments when both are tested. Then there is Project Vanguard, currently paused but planned to resume next year once new support is secured.

And finally, The Conformist, our next flagship project, envisioned to be several times more complex and deeper than Suzerain. For this to continue and fully enter production, we are actively seeking funding, and until that is secured, progress will unfortunately remain limited. The games industry has been going through difficult times in recent years, and advancing under these conditions has not been easy.

Alongside these projects, progress has been steady across all disciplines. The art team has produced new portraits and tokens that bring fresh life to upcoming scenes. New musical themes are being composed, exploring directions that carry forward the atmosphere and emotional tone of the experiences ahead. Our content team has been drafting new dialogues, sharpening their impact and flow while improving the range of choices and expressions. I’m personally very excited about what’s been cooking there. The tech team has pushed forward with research and development, laying foundations for something exciting that will be a huge gameplay component.

On the design side, several features has gone through several rounds of iteration, each step refining our intended vision we have planned for the new experiences. In parallel, there has been ongoing lore development and revamps for several countries and previously unexplored historical timespans, expanding the depth and reach of the Suzerain Universe.

Thank you for your patience and support.

-Ata, Torpor Games

This month, the Nintendo Switch version of Suzerain received its biggest update yet, the largest since its launch in 2021. The update includes all of the game's content to date, featuring the 3.1 Sovereign update and the launch of the Kingdom of Rizia DLC on the console.

We’re thrilled that Switch players can now enjoy the full political strategy RPG experience, complete and updated with every feature that PC and mobile players have experienced so far.

“We’re beyond excited to bring Suzerain’s fully updated experience to both longtime fans and newcomers on the Nintendo Switch with all the new free content; it’s been a long time coming. We’re especially thrilled that Switch players will finally get to dive into the Kingdom of Rizia story, and even more so that they can now shape their nation’s destiny anytime, anywhere on a handheld platform," explained Ata Sergey Nowak, Torpor's Managing Director.

Here's a selection of press coverage covering the launch:

👉 Read Our Blog About the Switch Update

We recently announced the Suzerain Banner Competition on our Discord server, inviting community members to showcase their creativity and knowledge of the Suzerain Universe.

The winning design will be featured as the official Suzerain Universe banner for one month, and the artist will also receive the exclusive Artist of the Suzerainverse role on Discord. In addition, the winning banner will be shared across Torpor Games’ social media and highlighted in the next Broadcast.

To give everyone more time to participate, we’ve extended the deadline by two weeks. Submissions are now open until 15th September at 18:00 CEST.

👉 Join the Suzerain Universe Discord to Take Part

The Suzerainverse wouldn’t be the same without all of you pouring your creativity into it. From in-depth analyses to hilarious memes, the community has been filling every corner of the internet with incredible content.

We want to celebrate that energy by highlighting some standout creations that have impressed us recently. Here are a few gems from YouTube over the past month:

If you’d like to share your own work, head over to the Suzerain Universe Discord and post it in the #ministry-of-art channel, we’d love to see it all!

In August, we brought the community together for our Q3 Town Hall and Q&A livestream, hosted on Discord and streamed live on Twitch and YouTube. During the session, we shared fresh insights into the progress of The Conformist and answered some of the most pressing questions from the community.

Missed it live? No problem! You can catch the full recording anytime on the Torpor Games YouTube channel.

👉 Watch the Livestream

We’re excited to announce a one-of-a-kind collaboration with BIMM Berlin and Audio Creatures, an exclusive opportunity for composers to bring their music to life with a full orchestra.

For this challenge, students at BIMM are invited to reimagine and rescore a brand-new musical theme that is unique, yet fits the tone of Suzerain: Kingdom of Rizia.

Through this competition, three outstanding submissions will be selected and recorded with the renowned Filmorchester Babelsberg at the historic Babelsberg Film Studios. These original scores will be transformed from written notes into a living, breathing orchestral performance.

👉 Check Out the Collaboration

Politics isn’t just about power. It’s about people, choices, and consequences. With Suzerain, we set out to show how every decision can shape the fate of a nation. Stephen Bush, Associate Editor at the Financial Times, calls Suzerain “one of the best fictional depictions of politics full stop.”

We’re proud to have earned recognition from Romina Kuko, Albania’s Deputy Interior Minister, who praised Suzerain for “bringing the atmosphere of high office to life with a precision seldom seen in interactive media.” Such recognition drives us to push political storytelling further than ever, building experiences that captivate, challenge, and inspire players everywhere.

View the full testimonials below:

Read the full testimonials:

"Suzerain is one of the best fictional depictions of politics full stop: not just in gaming, but in film, television or the page. It puts you right in the heart of the trade-offs, the difficult personalities, the private sacrifices, and the life or death decisions that politicians have to make. It grips like a thriller, and the world it creates will stay with you a long time: and, for me at least, make me think about politics in a more intelligent way."

— Stephen Bush

Associate Editor, Financial Times

"The exchanges at the cabinet table, the tenor of parliamentary dialogue, and the steady flow of reports on security, policing, and intelligence all feel recognisably authentic. As a history enthusiast, I found lessons of leadership throughout, in the choices taken, the consequences of right decisions, and the reflections on what might have been had a different path been pursued.

For me, it reads less like fiction and more like lived reality transposed into a game. Suzerain brings the atmosphere of high office to life with a precision seldom seen in interactive media, opening a rare window into the inner workings of politics."

— Romina Kuko

Deputy Interior Minister of Albania and MPUntil next time, dear Citizens. Take care!

Glovurius axa Rizia!

A’Morgna her Coren!

Check out our Twitter, Bluesky, Facebook, Reddit, Discord and our newsletter to get the latest breaking news for Suzerain and The Conformist.

Dear Citizens of the Suzerainverse,

We have big news for Nintendo Switch Suzerain fans! We're excited to announce that we've just dropped a massive content update for the Nintendo Switch version of Suzerain, and launched the long-awaited Kingdom of Rizia DLC on the console.

That means Switch players are finally getting the full political strategy RPG experience, updated and complete with every feature that PC and mobile players have enjoyed up until now.

Suzerain puts you in the shoes of a national leader navigating diplomacy, governance, and some seriously tough moral dilemmas. It’s less about brute force and more about making difficult choices that ripple through your nation’s history.

With the latest update, the Switch version is now fully up to speed. That includes:

New Scenes, New Dialogues, New Paths – Discover fresh conversations, impactful choices, and meaningful consequences that shape your nation’s destiny in Suzerain. This comprehensive overhaul expands the game with refined storytelling, a more immersive narrative, and an interactive world map, while also adding 12 new scenes, 9 new decisions, expanded character arcs, and over 300 new news articles and city reports.

Performance & Visual Enhancements – Enjoy smoother gameplay through improved performance optimization, along with upgraded visuals, enhanced audio, and an overall richer presentation that makes every moment in Suzerain more engaging and memorable.

Please note: Unfortunately, due to these changes and improvements, Nintendo Switch players will lose their current save data when updating to the latest version of Suzerain and will need to begin a new playthrough.

A big highlight for us is the launch of the Kingdom of Rizia DLC, which offers a completely different perspective: monarchy. You’ll step into the crown as King Romus Toras, navigating the challenges of ruling a kingdom steeped in tradition but staring down a rapidly changing world. Here’s what you can expect:

Build Your Nation - Sign dozens of Royal Decrees on topics such as order, economy, and welfare to develop and improve Rizia. Will you be the guardian of peace or the catalyst for conflict?

War Mechanic & Military Build-up - Experience the strategic and tactical military challenges in a turn-based experience. Build up the Rizian Armed Forces and train units to intimidate neighbors.

A Game of Houses - Engage in discussions on religion, family, and romance. Dive into the intricate dynamics of a royal family and houses where relationships intertwine, merging the realms of love, duty, and politics.

“We’re beyond excited to bring Suzerain’s fully updated experience to both longtime fans and newcomers on the Nintendo Switch with all the new free content; it’s been a long time coming. We’re especially thrilled that Switch players will finally get to dive into the Kingdom of Rizia story, and even more so that they can now shape their nation’s destiny anytime, anywhere on a handheld platform,” explained Ata Sergey Nowak, Managing Director of Torpor Games.

Ready to Play?

👉 Suzerain is currently on sale from the Nintendo eStore for $6.99 / €6.64.

👉 The Kingdom of Riziahttps://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/suzerain-kingdom-of-rizia-70050000061370-switch/DLC is currently on sale from the Nintendo eStore for $14.99 / €13.99.

👉 The Expanded Edition is currently on sale from the Nintendo eStore for $17.91 / €16.79.

The sale will be running until 19th September 2025. After the sale, Suzerain will be available for $19.99 /€18.99, the Kingdom of Rizia DLC available for $14.99 / €13.99, and the Expanded Edition for $31.99 / €29.99.

If you’re ready to test your leadership skills on the Nintendo Switch, whether as president or king, this is the perfect time to dive in.

Until next time, dear Citizens. Take care!

Glovurius axa Rizia!

A’Morgna her Coren!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2352340/Suzerain_Kingdom_of_Rizia/ Check out our Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, Discord and our newsletter to get the latest breaking news for Suzerain and The Conformist.

Dear Citizens of the Suzerainverse,

We're excited to announce a Discord Banner Competition, giving you the opportunity to show off your art skills and knowledge of the Suzerain Universe. If you're interested, or know someone who might be, read below for all the juicy details:

The competition is now officially open and will run until 1st September, 6:00 PM CEST / 12:00 PM EDT / 9:00 AM PDT.

• The banner must be related to the greater Suzerain Universe or represent the Suzerain Universe Discord. That's up to your interpretation.

• Important: Please be respectful and do not create harmful content. Anything that breaches this rule will be deleted.

• The banner must be 960 × 540 pixels (16:9 ratio), in PNG or JPG format, and no larger than 10 MB.

• Join the Suzerain Universe Discord server.

• Submit your banner entry to the #ministry-of-competitions channel.

• Only one submission per server member is allowed, so make sure yours is final before sending it.

• The Torpor Games team will create a shortlist of our favorite entries.

• The shortlisted banners will then be voted on by the community.

• The banner with the highest number of votes will win.

Voting will open in the days following the closing of submissions.

• The winning banner will be used as the official Suzerain Universe banner for one month.

• The winner will receive the Artist of the Suzerainverse role on the server.

• The winning banner will be shared across Torpor Games' social media and in the Broadcast newsletter.

Disclaimer: The winner will be asked to provide their email as proof of consent for usage.

We're all excited to see what you come up with. Best of luck to everyone!

Glovurius axa Rizia!

A’Morgna her Coren!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2352340/Suzerain_Kingdom_of_Rizia/ Check out our Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, Discord and our newsletter to get the latest breaking news for Suzerain and The Conformist.

Dear Citizens of the Suzerainverse,

Welcome to our July 2025 Broadcast! Things have been full throttle at Torpor this past month, with major progress, a range of development challenges, and plenty more that will come to light in the near future.

In this shorter update, you’ll get a behind-the-scenes look at life at Torpor, discover some of our favorite recent YouTube finds, and get a preview of our upcoming award nominations.

Nintendo Switch Update

We’re thrilled to share that the long-awaited Nintendo Switch update is nearly here, and development has been moving full steam ahead! It’s hard to believe the last time Suzerain was updated on Switch was all the way back in 2021 with version 1.1.0. But that’s about to change.

To get an inside look at how it's coming together, we caught up with Torpor Games programmer Julian Nowak, who’s been leading the charge on the Switch update. He dives into some of the key challenges the team has faced, along with UI enhancements and graphical improvements new for the console. Here's a look:

👉 Read More About the Nintendo Switch Dev Update

The Suzerain community continues to impress us with the incredible content being shared online. From in-depth playthroughs to thoughtful analysis, the creativity and passion on display never go unnoticed. We’d like to take a moment to spotlight a few standout pieces that recently caught our attention and deserve a bit of extra recognition.

Here are some highlights on YouTube from the past month:

If you’d like to share your own work, head over to the Suzerain Universe Discord and post it in the #ministry-of-art channel, we’d love to see it all!

We’re excited to share that Torpor Games has received two nominations at the Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards 2025, hosted by Steel Media. The Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards highlight every part of the gaming world, from developers and publishers to advertising, monetisation, tools, and emerging tech that make games possible.

Kingdom of Rizia is a finalist in the brand-new Best Game Innovation category, celebrates games released (or majorly updated) between June 2024 and June 2025 that bring something truly fresh and transform the player experience in unexpected ways.

We’re also honored to be nominated for Best Indie Developer, a recognition that means a great deal to our small but passionate team. The winners will be announced on Tuesday August 19th, during Gamescom week in Cologne, Germany. Can you cross your fingers for us? 🤞

👉 Read More About the Awards

After the success of May's Town Hall over on the Suzerain Universe Discord, we'll be hosting another for the third quarter of 2025! We believe its important to open the floor to the Suzerain community to ask questions about lore, development, and the Torpor team for an open and transparent diagloue. Plus, we also do it to see the memes.

Fancy joining us to either take part or just listen in, be sure to join us on:

Thursday 14th August at 6pm CEST / 12pm EST / 9am PDT

To ensure your questions are prioritised during the event, please submit them in advance via this form.

Here's a recap of what went down during the previous Town Hall.

👉 Join the Suzerain Universe Discord to Take Part

At Torpor Games, it's vital to us that Suzerain reflects the real-world impact of political decisions, both on a nation’s people and on the international stage. According to Trevor Wagener, former Deputy Chief Economist at the U.S. Department of State, Suzerain offers a “strikingly realistic” take on economic policymaking.

Most of the world doesn’t govern with abundant resources. Instead, it operates under tight fiscal constraints, where every decision involves risk and every trade-off comes at a cost. Suzerain captures this reality, especially for emerging nations, offering players insight into the complex and often unforgiving conditions many governments face.

“We’re proud that the games we make at Torpor resonate beyond entertainment, helping expand understanding of how economic policy actually works across much of the world,” Ata, Managing Director of Torpor Games.

We're also honored by recognition from Michael Young, a former 10 Downing Street Special Adviser to the UK Prime Minister. Hearing that Suzerain authentically reflects the realities of governance means the world to us, and this kind of institutional feedback continues to drive our mission to push the boundaries of political storytelling and craft experiences that challenge, engage, and provoke thought globally.

Read the full testimonials:

“Economics and fiscal policy are deep, difficult subjects to simplify without losing their essence, and Torpor Games depicts them from a governance perspective with striking realism. I worked on international policy debates over debt sustainability, budget constraints, and the continual balance between state-led initiatives and market forces under political constraints. Suzerain mirrors those pressures through its choices on budget, trade, energy, infrastructure, taxation, security, and welfare within a web of institutions, interest groups, and shifting public sentiment.

Core macroeconomic ideas such as intertemporal tradeoffs are integrated into a cohesive narrative rather than isolated mechanics. The result is a carefully constructed experience where economic reasoning and political strategy stay in constant conversation, making Suzerain intellectually rewarding and genuinely engaging.”

— Trevor Wagener, former Deputy Chief Economist of the U.S. Department of State

"I recently played Suzerain and was completely hooked. In real life, Government Ministers absorb information through reports and briefings and then make decisions from options presented by the Civil Service. Having been at the center of political decision-making, I've seen how politics functions up close and the trade-offs inherent in every decision. The game is an uncannily accurate reflection of how this process really works. Torpor Games has created something truly extraordinary with Suzerain, and it's a lot of fun to play as well!"

— Michael Young, former Special Adviser to the UK Prime Minister

Ata recently had the opportunity to attend a private Apple Developer Event at London’s impressive Battersea Power Station, where he gained valuable learnings into Apple’s evolving support for games.

One of the most exciting announcements was Apple Games; a new standalone app launching in Autumn 2025 alongside the App Store. Designed as a dedicated space for gaming, it will feature personalized recommendations, editorial highlights, and a revamped discoverability algorithm that emphasizes engagement and user behavior. For smaller studios like ours, this presents a meaningful opportunity for increased visibility without the need for big marketing budgets.

What stood out most was the genuine passion of the teams behind this initiative. Independent developers featured prominently across marketing materials and presentations, which is an encouraging sign for the future. We’re excited to see where this all leads!

Until next time, dear Citizens. Take care!

Glovurius axa Rizia!

A’Morgna her Coren!

Check out our Twitter, Bluesky, Facebook, Reddit, Discord and our newsletter to get the latest breaking news for Suzerain and The Conformist.

Dear Citizens of the Suzerainverse,

We welcome you to join us for the Torpor Town Hall and Q&A on the Suzerain Universe Discord at:

Thursday 14th August at 6pm CEST / 12pm EST / 9am PDT 

Join Ata from Torpor Games to talk about all-things about Suzerain and the Suzerain Universe!

To ensure that your questions are prioritised during the event, please submit your questions via this form: https://forms.gle/bChWyRCTMmyhTTZs6

Not a part of the Suzerain Universe Discord? You can join here: Click here

There will also be space during the event to ask questions via chat, as well as join the Stage.

We look forward to seeing you there!🫡

Glovurius axa Rizia!

A’Morgna her Coren!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2352340/Suzerain_Kingdom_of_Rizia/ Check out our Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, Discord and our newsletter to get the latest breaking news for Suzerain and The Conformist.

Dear Citizens of the Suzerainverse,

Okay, we’ll admit it. The Nintendo Switch version of Suzerain hasn’t received the love it truly deserves. We’ve been focusing heavily on updating the PC and mobile builds to version 3.1 and launching the Kingdom of Rizia DLC across these platforms. But that’s about to change!

The last time Suzerain was updated on Nintendo Switch was to V1.1.0, back in 2021. Over the past few months, however, we’ve been hard at work bringing the Switch version up to speed with its current state; and we’re thrilled to announce that the update is just around the corner.

To get a closer look at its development, we caught up with Torpor Games’ programmer Julian Nowak, who’s been leading the charge on Switch.

Hey Julian! Thanks for chatting with us. Can you give us a quick status update on the Switch build of Suzerain?

“Let’s just say that big things are coming for Switch! We’ve been working hard to ensure the Switch build matches the latest Steam/PC version. We’ve also been gaining and iterating on feedback from Nintendo. At times, it’s felt like a bit of a waiting game, but it’s all shaping up to be something special!”

What have been the biggest challenges so far?

“For the most part, it was actually pretty straightforward (wipes brow). I could get it running almost immediately without major hurdles. That said, there were some issues with the Nintendo Unity package related to file operations. Certain nuances that work fine on PC didn’t translate to Switch, so I had to find new ways to handle those instances.”

What’s been the most rewarding part of working on this update?

“It’s incredibly cool to see the updated version of Suzerain running on Switch, especially since I’m a regular Switch player myself! Watching a game you’ve worked on come to life on a console you love is an amazing feeling.”

How excited are you to see this update go live?

“I’m definitely super excited! It’s been quite a ride. I honestly can’t wait to see it live on the Nintendo eShop and finally give the Switch community the experience they deserve.”

Here’s a little glimpse of the visual changes in the upcoming Switch update:

Stay tuned for more Switch updates, coming soon!

A’Morgna her Coren!

The Torpor Games Team

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2352340/Suzerain_Kingdom_of_Rizia/Check out our Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, Discord and our newsletter to get the latest breaking news for Suzerain and The Conformist.

Dear Chinese Community Members and Players,

Thank you for your interest and enthusiasm regarding the Chinese localization of Suzerain. We sincerely appreciate your love for the game and your high standards for quality.

First of all, we hear you. We have seen your concerns expressed through Steam reviews and in the discussions taking place on the Suzerain Universe Discord. We want to clarify a few things to hopefully put you at ease.

Some Chinese text and localization files currently circulating on unofficial forums or platforms are unauthorized, prematurely leaked content. These materials are early, incomplete, and unpolished drafts from the development process, and do not fully represent the final versions. The official game has not yet incorporated any localization content, nor have we released any related updates. Therefore, anything seen via unofficial sources is neither a finished product nor an approved version.

We also understand that there may be differing philosophical approaches regarding the naming of certain aspects in the official localized version, which is completely fair. We do not want to eventually release something that feels disconnected from the community-built localization.

Our official Chinese localization effort is a voluntary project initiated by players themselves, involving over thirty contributors from China and abroad. Among them are university professors, students, veteran fans, and passionate players from various fields. Driven by a deep affection for the game, they have worked together with great care and dedication, contributing thousands of hours of effort and labor. We sincerely ask for your understanding and respect for this love-fueled endeavor.

At this time, the localization is still being refined and has not yet been officially integrated into the game. Premature evaluations made without the necessary preparation, feedback channels, or testing systems overlook the extraordinary efforts of these volunteers.

Once the project reaches a more mature stage, we will invite the community to participate in testing. Your feedback will be integral.

Testing will help identify technical issues, ensure translation accuracy, and preserve the original gameplay experience, making it truly resonate with the cultural context of Chinese players. We will also gather wider feedback through surveys and community sessions to continuously improve the final product. The success of this large-scale effort depends on the collective strength of the community. Your constructive support will be an essential part of this journey.

Please understand that we are a small studio with a full-time team of seven doing our utmost to stay afloat as an independent developer. We currently do not have traditional or stable sources of funding, and our development progress relies entirely on passion, voluntary contributions, and the goodwill of the community. Negative reviews based on unofficial and incomplete content will only make it harder for our resource-strained team to continue development and will delay the arrival of the high-quality localization we all hope for.

Currently, we’re reflecting on this feedback, having internal discussions within the team, and reviewing how we communicate with the localization community.

If you truly want to support the original development team of Suzerain and help bring this game to a broader Chinese audience, please participate in a constructive way. With patience, goodwill, and collaboration, we can together create something lasting and heartfelt.

We plan to create a better, future-proof direct pipeline for communication between you, the Chinese players, and us, the developers. We will be putting these pipelines in motion on Discord to open up constructive dialogues among all localization teams, including Chinese.

A’Morgna her Coren!

The Torpor Games Team

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2352340/Suzerain_Kingdom_of_Rizia/Check out our Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, Discord and our newsletter to get the latest breaking news for Suzerain and The Conformist.

Dear Citizens of the Suzerainverse,

We’re thrilled to share some great news with you today. This year has already been amazing, with so many award nominations, and now we’re excited to announce that we’ve been nominated once again, this time at the Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards 2025, organised by Steel Media.

First up, Kingdom of Rizia is a finalist in the Best Game Innovation category, which is new for this year’s awards. According to Pocket Gamer, this category celebrates games released (or majorly updated) between June 2024 and June 2025 that bring something truly fresh and transform the player experience in unexpected ways.

Kingdom of Rizia shares the nomination some big names like Balatro, Battle Cars: Nitro PvP Shooter, Dredge Mobile, Monopoly GO!, The Electric State: Kid Cosmo, Thronefall, Words With Friends, and Zynga Poker.

On top of that, we at Torpor Games have been nominated for Best Indie Developer, which honestly means so much to us. This award recognises the achievements of small teams that have released or grown a game over the past year.

We’re honoured to be listed alongside AbhiTechGames, Bart Bonte, Black Salt Games, Coleplay, kamibox, LocalThunk, Patrones y Escondites, Rusty Lake, Shatterproof Games, Snapbreak Games, and Tapblaze.

The Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards highlight every part of the gaming world, from developers and publishers to advertising, monetisation, tools, and emerging tech that make games possible. Winners will be announced on Tuesday 19th August during Gamescom week in Cologne, Germany.

Thanks so much to everyone who’s been supporting us on this journey.

Glovurius axa Rizia!

A’Morgna her Coren!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2352340/Suzerain_Kingdom_of_Rizia/
Check out our Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, Discord and our newsletter to get the latest breaking news for Suzerain and The Conformist.

Dear Citizens of the Suzerainverse,

Welcome to our June 2025 Broadcast! It’s been non-stop action at Torpor recently, and though it’s been demanding, it’s also been deeply rewarding. We can’t wait to share these highlights with you right now.

In this update, you’ll get the latest on our development progress, fresh localization news, and a teaser from The Conformist. We’ll also take you behind the scenes of our Torpor Day Out and share a glimpse of our unforgettable evening at the 2025 Games for Change Awards in New York City.

Going Beyond 3.1

Back in May, we launched the 3.1 “Sovereign” Update for the Kingdom of Rizia, a major overhaul of the DLC and a huge achievement for us. We want to thank you again for all the support and love you’ve shown.

Of course, we didn’t expect to get everything perfect right out of the gate. We listened closely to your feedback and iterated on the release, and we’re now at a point where we’re very pleased with the state of Update 3.1 and the Kingdom of Rizia DLC.

Suzerain is an ever-evolving game, that’s at the heart of its identity. Since the launch of 3.1, we’ve rolled out six patch updates over six weeks, which included balancing tweaks, additional content, and minor bug fixes. This game continues to grow alongside you and the universe we’re building together.

👉 Read Our Blog about Addressing Feedback from the Community

"June has been a month of completion and transition for the team. We wrapped up the last major updates for our 3.1 post-launch polish phase, which took a fair bit of energy and care. It’s been good to take a short breather, even just to pause and catch our breath. That bit of rest helped us reset and gather energy to face what’s next, because the second half of the year is looking full of exciting challenges and opportunities.

While the games industry continues to shift and times are tough for many independent creators, we remain committed to what we do best: making games. We’re focused on delivering the best experiences possible with the creativity, time, and tools we have, as we bring our next projects to life.

We’re excited about what’s coming and look forward to sharing more with you later this year. Until then, we just want to say thanks. Thanks to everyone who’s bought our games, talked about them, shared them, or just stuck around. Every kind word, review, or reshare genuinely helps us keep going and stay independent. It might seem small, but it matters. Nothing good comes easy, and we do this because it’s hard and because it matters. Having a community like this walking with us makes all the difference."

- Managing Director, Ata

Localization remains a major topic, with the community eager for more language support. Due to limited resources and the need to prioritise effectively, we’re currently focusing on Chinese localization. We’ve partnered with Gordon Chengjun, a native of Shiyan, China, and a PhD candidate at the University of Adelaide. This project is part of a unique research program exploring community-supported localization for deep-content games, potentially benefiting indie developers globally.

Once Chinese localization is live and our team is better equipped, we plan to integrate more community-driven localization projects that are complete or nearly complete. However, each language requires dedicated integration work, testing, leadership, and admin support, making it a resource-intensive process.

We recognise the strong demand for localizations and truly appreciate your continued patience as we expand language support for Suzerain.

👉 Read More about the Chinese Localization Project

We’re incredibly lucky to have a community that creates such amazing Suzerain content all across the Internet, especially on YouTube. That’s why we want to shine a spotlight on some of these brilliant community creations and make sure they get the recognition they deserve.

Here are a few that have caught our eye over the past couple of weeks:

If you’d like to share your own work, head over to the Suzerain Universe Discord and post it in the #ministry-of-art channel, we’d love to see it all!

We are delighted to announce that Kingdom of Rizia has won the Best in Civics category at the Games for Change 2025 Awards ceremony, and this honour fills our team with immense pride.

The evening in New York City was truly unforgettable. The Games for Change Awards showcased an incredible range of indie games and immersive experiences, each recognised for their meaningful design and social impact. Being part of such an inspiring community of creators was already a privilege, and receiving this award made the night all the more special.

Here are a few photos from the event:

👉 Read More about the 2025 Games for Change Awards

June saw Torpor’s summer outing go off with a bang, or should we say, a colourful bang, at Go Paintball in Brandenburg. It was time to put everything we’ve learned from the Pales War into action! After multiple rounds, hundreds of paintballs fired, and plenty of bruises earned, we quickly realised we’re far better suited to developing video games than becoming soldiers.

Still, we did our best for the Torpor army before heading back to Berlin for the next challenge of the day…

Check out some of the photos from our paintball session:

...In the latter half of the day, the Torpor team swapped physical exertion for some serious mental gymnastics at Final Escape’s immersive escape rooms.

First up was Bloody Awakening , set in a creepy abandoned clinic where every corner held a fright and nothing was quite what it seemed. Then came Prison Break, where we stepped into the shoes of inmates plotting their daring escape to freedom.

Both rooms were brilliantly themed, thrilling, and tested our teamwork to the max, making for an unforgettable, adrenaline-pumping afternoon!

Tales from The Conformist

“The Old Town is where Holsord first began, tucked just east of the Eskel River on slightly higher ground. Centuries ago, it was simply called Hol, meaning “high” or “tall” in Sordish. Though the city grew around it, this quiet district remained much as it was. Archaeologist Jule Ulzin traced its roots back to 1413, when settlers raised their first stone homes here. Time has not been kind, but it has been consistent. Some walls still bear hairline cracks from the civil war, blackened patches never fully scrubbed away. Others have been mended with whatever was available: plaster, tin, or old bricks reused from better days. The streets slope unevenly, and many of the buildings lean with age, but the Old Town endures with a kind of worn grace.

I passed a woman peeling apples outside a stone archway, seated on a stool polished smooth from years of use. Her fingers were stained, her eyes focused. Behind her, a man repaired a stool with frayed twine and a bent nail, while a child drew winding paths in the dirt with a stick. Coal smoke drifted from a window above, mixing with the smell of soap and damp laundry stretched between rusted balconies. The alley narrowed past a sagging drainpipe, where water dripped into a cracked bucket. A tailor sat in his doorway, threading buttons onto a faded coat beside a steaming kettle. Two boys kicked a rag-stuffed ball through the street, their laughter echoing against shuttered shops and worn facades. A shutter creaked in the breeze overhead, its flaking paint revealing bare wood beneath.

Life in the Old Town follows the paths it always has. Meals are made from memory, and trades are done without ceremony. Every object has a purpose or is kept until it finds one. The old families, once part of Sordland’s officer or merchant class, now tend to crumbling estates with fewer rooms heated each winter. For the working poor, hardship is familiar. These are the years of wished recovery, and everyone here knows that healing does not come quickly. Still, despite the quiet descent in fortunes, the place holds firm. The past is not polished here, but it is preserved. Nothing feels quite ready to be forgotten.”

- Sulfia Feji

👉 Visit The Conformist website to check out more


Until next time, dear Citizens. Take care!

Glovurius axa Rizia!

A’Morgna her Coren!

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