Vampire Survivors has continued to bring players an incredibly fun rogue-like experience, and its 2025 plans promise even more exciting content on the horizon. The indie hit has continued to grow since its 2022 launch, and as the new year begins, the developers of Vampire Survivors plan on opting for a "less is more" stance when it comes to updates. Instead of multiple small updates throughout the year, Vampire Survivors will be getting larger free updates less frequently in the future.
This method has its pros and cons, as more consistent content can be seen as the stronger approach by some, but less frequency with larger-sized updates can also have big advantages. Vampire Survivors and its new method for content roll-out is an intriguing change of pace, especially since 2024 was such an eventful year for the game. As the title continues to evolve and grow in popularity, these types of changes are necessary in order to make a player's experience as satisfying as possible. However, it's interesting to note that Vampire Survivors is seemingly taking the opposite approach to a game that also got its start as a massive indie hit: Minecraft.
Vampire Survivors: 12 Most Powerful DLC Characters, Ranked
These characters from the Vampire Survivors DLCs are some of the most powerful of the bunch.
Vampire Survivors and Minecraft Are Approaching 2025 in Completely Different Ways
Minecraft Now Opts For Consistency
Since 2011, Minecraft has had the luck of longevity, which has made way for plenty of in-game updates through the years. Minecraft's past update structure brought a treasure trove of fresh content every summer, but moving forward, developer Mojang is opting for more frequent updates that are smaller in scope. The initial announcement was made in September 2024 in a community update via a blog post on Minecraft's official website. Written by Ryan Cooper, the head of Minecraft, the blog post states, "Instead of providing one free update during the summer, as we’ve done in the past, we’ll now be releasing a number of free game drops throughout the year. These game drops will vary in size and will bring you features to explore more frequently."
Last week, Minecraft released its first update snapshot of the year with 25w03a.
Vampire Survivors Switches Focus
2024 was a big year for Vampire Survivors. Between finally releasing on the PS4 and PS5 and its Ode to Castlevania expansion, it's surprising that developer Poncle is aiming to slow down, but it's for a good reason. Focusing on larger, less frequent updates allows developers to ensure that fresh Vampire Survivors content is as fine-tuned as possible. Despite dialing back its content launches, there is still plenty on the horizon for the monster-slaying rogue-like.
- Cross-save functionality across all platforms is planned for Patch 1.13, which is the first scheduled update of the year.
- Online co-op is still in development and may arrive later in 2025.
As an extra dose of excitement, Vampire Survivors is also set to get a live action adaptation. Expanding on this news, Poncle's official statement further teased, "we should also be able to reveal a few other ‘cross-media’ things we’ve been working on." These larger updates are likely to bring Vampire Survivors to even greater heights, especially with the in-development online co-op.
For the live action adaptation of Vampire Survivors, Poncle is working with Story Kitchen to help build a plot.
Minecraft and Vampire Survivors Demonstrate That Flexibility is Key
Both Minecraft and Vampire Survivors switching up their usual update plans showcase how breaking away from tradition can sometimes be the best path forward in order to grow. More consistent Minecraft content is an exciting change, and Vampire Survivors toning down its release schedule sets the stage for some of its biggest upgrades yet. These two paths have their benefits and drawbacks, and these methods will hopefully help Minecraft and Vampire Survivors have one of their strongest years yet.
-
OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 88 /100 Critics Rec: 98%
- Released
- December 17, 2021
- ESRB
- T For Teen // Blood, Violence
- Developer(s)
- Luca Galante
- Publisher(s)
- Luca Galante
- Engine
- unity
- Multiplayer
- Local Co-Op
- Franchise
- Vampire Survivors
WHERE TO PLAY
- Number of Players
- 1-4
- Split Screen Orientation
- N/A (Shared Screen)
- Steam Deck Compatibility
- Verified
- Platform(s)
- Mobile, Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X
- Genre(s)
- Roguelike
- How Long To Beat
- 6 Hours
- X|S Optimized
- No
- PS Plus Availability
- N/A
- File Size Xbox Series
- 1 GB (November 2023)
- Local Co-Op Support
- 1-4 Players
- OpenCritic Rating
- Mighty
