2022 video game

Vampire Survivors, also known as Vampire Survivors - First Survivaton, is a 2022 independent roguelike shoot 'em up video game developed and published by Luca Galante under the studio name poncle. Following an early access period that began in December 2021, it was released for macOS, Windows, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Android, and iOS in late 2022. A port for Nintendo Switch was released on August 17, 2023, and on August 29, 2024, a port was released for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5. A virtual reality port for the Meta Quest was released in November 2025.

In the game, players control an automatically attacking character while battling continuous waves of monsters, aiming to survive the onslaught for as long as possible and unlock additional characters, weapons, and relics for future sessions. The game was initially a small project Galante made while unemployed and released at a very low cost. It drew far greater sales than Galante expected, leading to him bringing on additional developers to improve the engine and expand the game. The game has since had several free and paid expansions, including an official pack based on Castlevania, a series Galante had used for inspiration.

Vampire Survivors received accolades at the Golden Joystick Awards, New York Game Awards, and D.I.C.E. Awards. The game was nominated in five categories at the British Academy Games Awards, winning two: Game Design and Best Game. The game is considered one of the first "bullet heaven" games and has led to numerous titles with similar auto-combat mechanics. A spin-off roguelike deck-builder, Vampire Crawlers, was released on April 21, 2026. In June 2026, the game's name was changed to Vampire Survivors - First Survivaton.

Source: Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA.