Format PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series
Developer Outerloop Games
Publisher Annapurna Interactive
Origin US
Release 2023
Firstly, suitors. As Outerloop Games approached its second game, the developer began with the idea of arranged marriage. Having addressed themes of colonialism in its debut, Falcon Age, the team wanted to stick with its “very South-Asian-inspired cast and story”, but with a fresh focus. “We were talking about different ideas about families and relationships. That’s sort of where our minds were at the time,” creative director Chandana Ekanayake explains. Hence arranged marriage – and that eye-catching title, which Ekanayake admits he had in place before the final idea for the game.
In its original conception, this idea was travelling in a “more horror-themed” direction. Ekanayake references one of concept artist Vijay Krish’s earliest pieces, “where one of the mothers transforms – she was pretty horrific-looking!” Eventually, though, the team decided that this wasn’t a story they were comfortable telling: while arranged marriage remains quite commonplace in South Asian communities, of which many of Outerloop’s staff are part, none of them had firsthand experience of it.
So, while the suitors retained
