Vampire Survivors

Vampire Survivors is a minimalist time-survival roguelite by poncle. The character moves through ever denser hordes of enemies while weapons attack largely automatically. Experience points, new weapons, passive bonuses and evolutions shape very different builds within a few minutes.

The core is to survive as long as possible, control enemy waves and build synergies from random level-up offers. Between runs, permanent upgrades can be unlocked, so progress builds across many short runs.

Vampire Survivors launched on Dec 17, 2021 in Steam Early Access and reached version 1.0 on Oct 20, 2022. Since then, the game has been continuously expanded with free systems, new platforms and paid expansions.

Long-term expansions include new stages, characters, weapons, Adventures, and local and later online co-op. The live expansion runs alongside several standalone DLC packs.

Vampire Survivors is available on PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5. Native versions also exist for iOS and Android. On consoles and PC, the game continues to receive the essential free content updates.

Platforms differ in part in Cross-buy, Cross-play and certain store features. The PlayStation versions, for example, are offered together as Cross-buy, while Nintendo Switch has its own native version.

During a run, controls focus mainly on movement and positioning. Weapons fire automatically or in fixed patterns. Defeated enemies drop experience gems; when leveling up, the player chooses from several weapons or passive items.

Many weapons can evolve into stronger forms through matching passive items and certain conditions. This creates the typical build focus: rather than precise aiming, the key question is which areas, directions and damage types can be combined into a stable setup against ever larger waves of enemies.

Vampire Survivors received several expansions after version 1.0, including Legacy of the Moonspell, Tides of the Foscari, Emergency Meeting, Operation Guns, Ode to Castlevania, Ante Chamber and Legacy of the Bloodmoon. The add-ons bring their own areas, characters, weapons and music, and some also add extra Adventures.

Legacy of the Moonspell is the first major expansion. In 2022 it opened Mt. Moonspell, a Japanese-inspired mountain landscape with yokai and oni. Since a content update in August 2026, four more playable characters, five new weapons and an additional music track have been added to the expansion. License collaborations are to be distinguished from poncle's own expansions.

On Windows, the Steam version requires at least Windows 10 64-bit, an x64 processor with SSE2 support, 1 GB RAM, a DirectX 11 or DirectX 12 capable graphics card and about 2.5 GB of free storage. For macOS, poncle lists at least macOS 10.14 and Metal-capable hardware.

Vampire Survivors supports local co-op for up to four players. Since 2025, online co-op has also been available on supported PC and console platforms. Online matches are invite-based and do not use random player matchmaking.

Cross-play remains limited to platform ecosystems. Xbox Series X|S and the Microsoft Store/Game Pass PC version can play together; PS4 and PS5 also form a shared ecosystem. There is currently no full cross-play between different ecosystems.

Legacy of the Bloodmoon is a major standalone expansion by poncle, released on August 28, 2026. It introduces Red Moon Manor and the Bloodmoon clan, and adds twelve new playable characters, more than 16 new weapons and evolutions, an XL stage, an additional Adventure campaign and new music.

Several characters change the usual approach to death. Individual abilities or weapons become stronger by dying and reviving, so revival resources can be deliberately used as part of a build. The characters include Malice Bloodmoon, Calogero Bloodmoon, Baal'Thasar, Ashtart and Sargon, among others.