The creator of Vampire Survivors explained the success of the
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The creator of Vampire Survivors explained the success of the game and told under what conditions he would make Vampire Survivors 2

An interview with the developer of the gothic survival action roguelike Vampire Survivors, Luca Galante, aka Poncle GameSpot talked about the game’s success story and the likelihood of a sequel.

    Image source: Poncle

Image source: Poncle

According to Galante, he initially hoped to get at least 100 people involved with Vampire Survivors, but posting it on itch.io didn’t help achieve that goal. A few months later, the developer decided to put the game on Steam, where it was overtaken in popularity.

Galante attributes Vampire Survivors’ early success to three factors:

  • Bullet Hell style gameplay seen in a mobile game Magic Survival;
  • colorful visual effects inspired by platforms Lapis x Labyrinth;
  • thematic resemblance to Castlevania achieved through a free set of materials available to Galante.

The variety of interests of the audience also plays into the hands of Vampire Survivors: most of the time, a few successful races are enough, while the project offers a wide range of play styles and tasks (ideal combinations, challenges, collecting all items).

    Magic Survival (Image Source: Play Store)

Magic Survival (Image Source: Play Store)

As interest in Vampire Survivors grew, Galante decided to take development more seriously: he drew up a plan (later more than doubled) for early access, hoping to save the €1000 spent developing the game by then to bring back in.

Due to the influx of users, Galante tried to outdo itself and offer something new with each patch. As a result of this practice, the developer was not entirely satisfied with the final boss, but does not intend to return to it.

    Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer received all in-game achievements (Image source: XboxP3 on Twitter)

Phil Spencer, CEO of Microsoft Gaming receive all in-game achievements (Image source: XboxP3 on Twitter)

In the future, the game is waiting for add-ons like the already released Legacy of the Moonspell (characters, weapons, levels), but Vampire Survivors 2 is in question: “Vampire Survivors is designed so that we can add new content and new mechanics to an existing game, so why make a sequel? If we decide to do a sequel or a spiritual heir, we need to offer something radically new.”.

Vampire Survivors is available for PC (Steam, Microsoft Store), Xbox One, Xbox Series X and S, iOS and Android, and Game Pass (PC and Xbox). PlayStation release on the way: Galante says he wants to release the game on PS Vita.

About the author

Alan Foster

Alan Foster covers computers and games and all the news in the gaming industry.

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