Vampire Survivors is a roguelike game, but it’s also so much more. From its unique blend of bullet hell mechanics and Castlevania-esque settings to its quirky characters, a game that seems like a simple arcade experience is actually something with much more depth. Poncle recently revealed that couch co-op would be coming to the game, and that long-awaited update has just arrived. If you’ve been waiting to experience the utter chaos of Vampire Survivors with friends, you can now.
Version 1.6 and the Vampire Survivors patch notes have arrived and given the game a brand-new engine as well as a massive new mode. Poncle cited new content as the reason for switching engines, saying, “we can focus on adding features that wouldn’t have been achievable on the old engine.” The new engine also resolves some old performance issues, making for an overall smoother experience.
If you ever want to go back to the old engine, you can do so by selecting its branch and inputting the password, PhaserVersion2023. It’s important to note that the old engine will no longer be updated though, as the developer stated that, “certain features, like co-op or the future cross-save options, would just be a massive time sink to implement on the old engine and I’d rather put that time and energy on new content instead.”
Poncle went on to detail the new couch co-op mode and wrote alongside the Vampire Survivors patch notes post, “All you need is one controller per player and you can add up to three extra people on the character select screen and continue to play through your missions, hunt achievements, etc. with your friends.” You can play the entire game as well as the DLC packs with friends.
There are also some co-op mechanics like the Friendship Amulet and colored indicators to make gameplay less confusing. For those of you wondering about online multiplayer functionality, the developer did leave a note with the update discussing it. “A question we get a lot is if there is online multiplayer coming too,” Poncle wrote, “short answer: maybe one day, we are looking into it but the dev team needs to sleep sometimes.”
If you love Vampire Survivors as much as I do and can’t wait to play it with some friends, then you may be interested in checking out some of our other favorite indie game gems. Alternatively, browse through some of these Vampire Survivors cheats if you and your pals need help making your way through the game’s more difficult stages.