Independent studio poncle, creator of the breakout hit Vampire Survivors, is expanding its universe with a new spin-off title. Vampire Crawlers: The Turbo Wildcard from Vampire survivors reimagines the popular gothic horror action as a turn-based deck-building roguelite, slated for release in 2026 across multiple platforms including PC, Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, and mobile. The project, announced at the Xbox Showcase, marks the beginning of a series of spin-offs while the core Vampire Survivors team continues development on future, unannounced content.
Poncle, the studio behind the surprise BAFTA-winning hit Vampire Survivors, has announced its next project: Vampire Crawlers: The Turbo Wildcard from Vampire Survivors. This new title marks the beginning of a series of spin-offs, shifting the popular gameplay into a turn-based deck-building roguelite experience. The game is slated for release on PC via Steam, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, iOS, and Android in 2026.
Vampire Crawlers reimagines the addictive action of Vampire Survivors as a fast-paced card game with roguelite elements. Players will navigate dungeons, collect coins and crystals, and build powerful card combinations to overcome challenges. The move demonstrates a growing trend of successful indie titles expanding their universes through new genres.
“I’ve put over 3000 hours into Vampire Survivors over the years, and I’m still going,” said Luca Galante, director of poncle. “I’m already at the same point with this game, and Vampire Crawlers hasn’t even launched yet!”
Poncle intends to build upon the core strengths of Vampire Survivors – accessibility, immediate gameplay, affordability, replayability, a lighthearted tone, and striking visuals – and apply them to established game genres. While the core poncle team continues work on a currently unannounced project for the future of Vampire Survivors, these spin-off concepts are being developed in collaboration with other independent studios.
Announced during the Xbox Showcase, the new trailer features a hyperrealistic Poe, a recognizable character from Vampire Survivors, highlighting the contrast between the two games. Vampire Crawlers will be available on PC, mobile, and consoles in 2026, and will launch day one on Xbox Game Pass Premium and Ultimate.
About Vampire Crawlers
Table of Contents
A new adventure unfolds in a dark world. Players will explore maps, enhance their abilities, defeat monsters, and uncover hidden treasures.
Vampire Crawlers: The Turbo Wildcard from Vampire Survivors transforms the excitement of Vampire Survivors into a turn-based card game with roguelite elements. The game focuses on deck-building, dungeon exploration from a fresh perspective, and unleashing spectacular card combos. Players can choose to play strategically or complete turns as quickly as possible.
Key Features:
- A Snowballing Turn-Based Game: Play cards to create combos, with each card potentially multiplying the effect of the next. Utilize wildcards and continue to progress. Can you reach infinity without breaking the screen?
- Choose Your Pace: The turn-based system ensures precise results regardless of your preferred play speed. Enjoy the effects of each card individually, or create total chaos by playing as fast as possible.
- Deck Building: Gain experience and level up to unlock new cards, open chests for customization gems and upgrades, evolve weapons, and summon survivors to trigger cascading effects and break the game.
- Explore Dungeons: Traverse multi-layered dungeons featuring walls – a new element for Vampire Survivors players – along with a variety of treasures and potential interactions. Find the shovel to dig to the next floor, which might even be in the clouds!
Minimum Requirements:
- Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
- OS: TBC
- Processor: TBC
- Memory: 1 MB of RAM
- Graphics: TBC
- Storage: 1 MB of available space
- Sound Card: TBC but it should play music
Recommended Requirements:
- Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
- OS: TBC
- Processor: TBC
- Memory: 1 MB of RAM
- Graphics: TBC
- Storage: 1 MB of available space
- Sound Card: TBC but it should DEFINITELY play music
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this a sequel to Vampire Survivors?
It’s a spin-off of Vampire Survivors, and we hope it’s the first of many! The idea is to take some of the core pillars that emerged accidentally during the development of VS and apply them to existing genres. We’re talking about accessibility, immediacy, affordability, replayability, a lighthearted tone, and a lot of flashy visuals.
Will Vampire Crawlers receive post-launch updates like Vampire Survivors?
Yes, we’re already planning to continue supporting the game after launch, and we have a lot of ideas! Vampire Crawlers is a complete game, with a beginning and an end, so we’ll wait to see what players say and suggest before deciding what to do post-launch.
When will it be released?
Our target is early to mid-2026.
About poncle
poncle is a small video game development studio founded by Luca Galante, based in London. After gaining experience with various HTML5 projects, Luca created Vampire Survivors during the pandemic as a way to improve his development skills.
The game unexpectedly became a massive success, evolving into a cult phenomenon with a large and dedicated community. Today, poncle is a cheerful team of programmers, designers, artists, and other gaming enthusiasts who continue to work on Vampire Survivors and collaborate with other developers to bring their titles to a wider audience, such as Berserk or Die and Kill the Brickman.
