Vampire Survivors News

As if you needed more of a reason to while away the hours listening to Vampire Survivors’ strangely entrancing OST while mowing down thousands of skeletons, ghosts and vampires, 2022’s more moreish and BEST game is getting local co-op.

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Vampire Survivors is a proper good gam; the kind that only comes around every so often. The kind that makes Jim beg for a BAFTA win, the kind that gets picked up for TV treatment within months of launch.

Until now, the game was only available on PC and Xbox hardware and mobile. But now, at today's Nintendo Direct, it was confirmed that Vampire Survivors is coming to Switch – and it's bringing some friends with it.

Well, actually, it's asking you to bring some friends along, too. The game – previously only available as a single-player experience – will be getting a couch co-op mode will come in a free update on August 17, which will let you play the whole Vampire Survivors saga with up to 4 players in local co-op on PC, Steam Deck, Nintendo Switch, Xbox, and mobile.

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Today is a very special day in Vampire Survivors’ history, as we can finally confirm that something a lot of people have been asking for is coming to the game: We are adding Vampires! Just kidding.

But we are adding a couch co-op mode for up to 4 players!



[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

The couch co-op mode will be released on August 17 with a free update that will let you play the whole game, including all updates and DLCs, with friends (or foes). In couch co-op mode, you can either continue your current game or start a new adventure. It will also be possible to seamlessly switch between single and co-op play between stages, unlock achievements, etc. In short: you will be able to play the whole game in local co-op!
And yes, this will also work on Steam Deck if you sit together close enough (or connect it to a TV).

We hope you will enjoy the co-op mode as much as we did when playtesting and making it. It already tested multiple friendships in the poncle team – your friendships could be next.

After searching for many months, we finally found the "port to Nintendo Switch" button in our game engine! We'll press it on August 17, not a day sooner.



For everyone who wants to know more details about how the co-op mode will work, we’ve also got some more info below. Since we will be on so many platforms, we have also started a newsletter where we will be sharing further announcements and info about the co-op mode in the next weeks, so if you want to receive them you can sign-up here.

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Why are you adding couch co-op to Vampire Survivors?
Because it’s fun (we hope!) and couch co-op is one of the most requested community features.

How much does the couch co-op update cost?
Nothing. The co-op update will be completely free.

When does the couch co-op update launch?
August 17, 2023.

How does the couch co-op update change the gameplay?
While we can’t go into too many details here, we can already say that the gameplay stays largely the same (more chaos aside), though adding more players changes a few gameplay systems of course. For example, you will share the “level up” bar with the experience points with your friends and level up in turns, all players will always be visible on the same screen (so no splitscreen) and there will also be a few ways to sabotage each other: just, you know, pick Gatti Amari.

Can multiple people play on one keyboard on PC?
Unfortunately we hit some technical limitations, so for now you will need one controller input device (keyboard, controller etc.) per player.

With how many people can I play Vampire Survivors once the couch co-op update hits?
Up to 4 players in total in local couch co-op. Be the bullet hell with your besties! Or on your own by using 4 controllers at once! (jk please don't do that to yourself 🙏)

Can I also play co-op online?
Not officially! When the co-op update lands, it will allow local couch co-op for up to 4 players but does not support online play.
That being said, there are online gaming solutions like Steam Remote Play Together that work with every game, so you will be able to play online with those workarounds of course.

Is there only a couch co-op mode or can I also play against my friends?
There's no versus mode, but we're sure some of you will find a way or two to test how good your friendships are in the co-op.

Will there be specific couch co-op multiplayer levels?
Nope! We designed the co-op mode in a way that you can play through all of Vampire Survivors with friends, but there won’t be co-op specific levels.

Will there be couch co-op focused achievements?
Also nope! We don’t want anyone to feel like they HAVE to play co-op to unlock and see everything in the game. You will be able to play the whole of Vampire Survivors with friends, foes or your favourite creatures of the night but it’s fully optional.

Can I also play the DLCs in couch co-op?
Of course! As long as you own a DLC you will be able to play it in local co-op.

Do I need to start from the beginning to play the couch co-op?
You can seamlessly switch between co-op and single player before every run. No need to start a new game, and all the unlocks you get during a co-op play session will carry over to your singleplayer save.

Can I select the same character as my friends? We all want to play as Poe!
Multiple Poes would tip the balance of the universe, so for now every character can only be selected by one player per run.

Will there be future single-player updates for the game?
Yes! We will continue to support the game with free updates and paid DLCs, but moving forward you will be able to play everything solo (as usual) or in co-op if you prefer.

Beta when?
If you're on the new-engine branch, you'll be able to test couch co-op some time before the official release, but we don't have a specific date for that yet.

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Local co-op also on MOBILE?
Yes, if you connect bluetooth controllers to your mobile device you can play together, but in landscape only. Good luck! 👓

Does the update include friends and a couch?
No, as unfortunately we're unable to provide physical goods and people... Or are we?

You might have seen that we announced the new patch v1.5 in the PC Gaming Show yesterday (SURPRISE!) and it's out now (not a surprise but hope you will enjoy it)!

Expect overwhelming chaos in the beginning – even more than usual! The new patch comes with the new Astral Stair level, featuring flying paintings, the new GoldFinger pick-up (destroy a lot of enemies fast and win prizes!), a gameshow-like spinning wheel that triggers random events, half-a new character, a new game mode, relics, achievements and more.

Here is a short overview of the patch content and below you can find the ‘Full Spoiler’ section if you want to see everything that is in v1.5.



- 6 new achievements (2 from the DLCs)
- 1 new challenge stage
- 3 new relics to get a new game mode, a new character transformation, and a map
- 1 new pickup that triggers a short special event


- Reach Level 80 in Inverse Inlaid Library to unlock Astral Stair
- In Astral Stair, find the Chaos Rosalia to unlock the morph ability for Yatta Cavallo
- In Astral Stair, find the Trisection to unlock the Random Events option in Stage Selection
- Find the Map of Astral Stair, Mt.Moonspell (DLC), and Lake Foscari (DLC) in the respective stages

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]



Stage: Astral Stair
Has an intro cutscene (auto-skipped after all relics in the stage have been obtained).
Initially, it looks like the usual infinitely repeating stages, but it's actually a single giant map. It's confusing to navigate until you discover it actually has a very simple layout.
Players can use teleporters to move through different rooms.
Has enemies that follow the beat of the music and turn either red or blue. They can be damaged only by weapons of the same colour they're currently "wearing".
Has special boss enemies, Cosmic Eggs, which can cast the same Infinite Corridor ability the player can normally obtain. It halves the player's health at every cast, making it potentially dangerous even to characters with crazy bonuses.

Relic: Map of Astral Stair
Surprisingly, this is a map of Astral Stair.

Relic: Trisection Unlocks a new game mode called ‘Randomize Minute Events’. In this mode, there are spinning wheels that can be seen in the bottom right corner of the screen. They triggers special events every minute; whether they’re good or bad depends on the character's Luck stat. Good luck!

This option is always enabled by default in the new stage Astral Stair (until you pick up the Trisection relic), but with the relic you can have the mode switched on or off for every stage.

Please note: This mode is not compatible with the PC Twitch mode (since it's doing the same thing as the Twitch mode, without needing a chat).

Relic: Chaos Rosalia Allows the character Yatta Cavallo to morph when reaching Level 80. It gets a few minor stats boost and evolves its Cherry Bomb weapon into Yatta Daikarin.

The weapon evolution still throws bombs, but also draws "constellations" around the character that explode, dealing luck-based damage.

Pickup: GoldFinger A new pickup that triggers a special event in which the character becomes invincible and more powerful for a set amount of time. During this time, a counter is displayed to show how many enemies are getting defeated in the invincibility period.
When the invincibility ends, the player is given a score and a prize.

Current tresholds and prizes:

Bronze: 0
Silver: 500 + Player Level
Gold: 1000 + Player Level x2
Demon: 1500 + Player Level x3
Cosmic: 2500 + Player Level x4

Bronze: healing + bouncy weapon if the players has less than 6 total items
Silver: coins + healing + Little Clover + random pickup between Gilded Clover, NFT, or Rosary.
Gold: coins + floor chicken + treasure chest (no evo)
Demon: coins + treasure chest (with evos)
Cosmic: coins + treasure chest (with evos) + random weapon

Possible Cosmic Finger weapons: Greatest Jubilee, Torrona's Box, or Victory Sword,
+ Candybox if the player has less than 6 weapons
+ "anima weapon" (???) if the player has less than 7 weapons and doesn't already have an anima weapon


After finding the Trisection, the GoldFinger has a very slim chance to be dropped in most stages.

new engine tweaks and fixes:
- doubled projectile pool limit
- La Borra projectiles getting stuck
- music volume resetting after getting changed

RPS' coveted game of the year 2022, Vampire Survivors, is getting another update, which means there are now even more reasons why you should play this game if you haven't already. Like, seriously. The big 1.5 Overwhelming Update brings with it new brain-overloading shenanigans which you can see in the trailer below, first revealed at the PC Gaming Show. Oh yeah, and the update is available today (June 11th)!

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