There’s no stopping Vampire Survivors. The breakout indie game, which saw its full release in October 2022 following a period in early access, helped to define a wave of auto-attacking roguelite survival games and became one of the most popular games of the year. Since then, developer Poncle has released two pieces of DLC and is now celebrating yet another landmark achievement, as the game breaks a rather spectacular Steam milestone.
Vampire Survivors wasn’t the first game to adopt the formula of a twin stick shooter where your attacks automatically fire off at regular intervals, but its slick presentation, compelling progression, Castlevania-inspired art style, and pumping soundtrack all combined into an ultra moreish roguelite game package. We named it our biggest surprise of 2022, and it was one of the few names brought up in the end-of-year conversation that came close to matching the sheer might of Elden Ring.
Now, developer Poncle announces that the game has just passed the 200,000 Steam reviews mark. That by itself is impressive, but even more astonishing is that it maintains a whopping 98% positive score, netting it the elusive ‘overwhelmingly positive’ Steam rating. That places Vampire Survivors into an elite club of big games that have maintained such a high percentage, including Stardew Valley, Hades, and Valve’s own Portal 2.
“Real talk: We just hit 200,000 positive reviews on Steam and we wanted to say the biggest thank you to our players for this incredible support,” the developer shares on social platform Twitter/X, “it means the world!” It includes a special version of the game’s over-the-top treasure chest animation – which heralds the arrival of the best Vampire Survivors power ups in-game – to celebrate the news, along with some of its favorite user reviews.
“Started as a dude with a whip, ended as an immobile tree radiating garlic stink. 10/10 would tree again,” one reads. “90 hours. No Vampires. 10/10,” another says. Having racked up a rather impressive 836 hours, yet another reviewer delivers a thumbs up and simply writes, “It’s okay I guess.”
I absolutely love Vampire Survivors, so it’s wonderful to see so many people of similar mind. With a price tag on Steam that’s just $4.99 / £3.99, you really can’t go too far wrong with it – and Vampire Survivors is 30% off on Steam until October 15, so expect to pay just $3.49 / £2.79 if you’re quick. It’s also available as part of the PC Game Pass library if you’re a subscriber.
Just getting started? Then you’ll want to know how to unlock secret Vampire Survivors characters and get to grips with how Vampire Survivors weapon evolution works, as it’s your biggest key to success.