Vampire Survivors continues to be a massive success, driving significant growth for publisher poncle since its 2022 release. In a recent interview with The Game Business, Chief Strategy Officer Matteo Sapio discussed the studio's trajectory after reaching over 27 million players. The Vampire Survivors dev team is now looking to leverage that momentum into a wide array of new content and expansions.

Managing Over 15 Ongoing Projects

The scale of the studio's current workload is substantial, with Sapio noting that their plans include over 15 different projects, ranging from major updates to entirely new titles. "Vampire Survivors exploded, and in two or three months, it sold more than one million copies," Sapio stated. He highlighted the unique approach of solo developer Luca Galante, noting that instead of luxury items, "his yachts are video games."

This philosophy has already yielded results, such as the free Emerald Beyond DLC developed alongside Square Enix. The Vampire Survivors dev approach is focused on organic growth and reinvesting success back into the genre. This includes the release of Vampire Crawlers, a deckbuilding dungeon crawler spinoff that builds upon the studio's established formula.

An Agile Approach to Development

To manage this growing portfolio, Sapio intends to utilize small, flexible teams consisting of designers and producers. The goal is to maintain an indie ethos even as the company expands.

"Our idea is to have little teams of people—five, 10, 15—working on different projects," Sapio explained. He emphasized that the studio aims to stay efficient by avoiding "useless risks" and focusing on a structure where a diversified portfolio allows for both successes and failures.

The Future of the Vampire Survivors dev Strategy

Looking ahead, the Vampire Survivors dev roadmap focuses on expansion and the use of their proprietary technology. The studio is currently working on several key fronts:

  • Opening new development studios in Italy and Japan.
  • Utilizing the "Survivors engine" for licensed partnerships, such as Warhammer Survivors.
  • Scaling production to manage multiple simultaneous releases.

While titles like Warhammer Survivors use a different team and a tabletop setting, Sapio maintains they are part of the official "Survivors lineage." Looking five years into the future, he envisions a studio managing 40 projects in parallel development across the globe, preferring a collection of small, impactful games over a single massive release.