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Interview: Metal Gear Would Be 'Too Much Pressure' for Vampire Survivors Maker

"I'd rather do something very obscure"

by · Push Square

Vampire Survivors needs no introduction. The bullet hell-esque roguelike RPG is a phenomenon, and extended its unstoppable run to PS5 and PS4 earlier this year, where it’s inevitably proven an enormous success.

Earlier this week, developer Poncle released its Ode to Castlevania expansion, an add-on which includes popular characters from Konami’s gothic series, including Trevor Belmont and Alucard. It also features a pretty huge map and a bunch of weapons, as well as an obligatory mix of Easter eggs.

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For creator Luca Galante, this collaboration sees the release come full-circle, as he admits the game started out with a Castlevania-themed assets pack.

“When I started work on the game I had this asset pack that was used for the icons and everything that was inspired by Castlevania, obviously,” he tells us at a Halloween party in a hipster sub-district of London.

This isn’t developer Poncle’s first crossover with Konami, as it previously released a massive Contra content pack named Operation Guns. With Vampire Survivor’s obvious Castlevania inspirations, we had to ask Galante why it selected the legendary run-‘n’-gun franchise first.

“That was planned, basically,” he laughs. “Because with Konami, we actually clicked right away with the creatives and the people in marketing. I think the idea came from them actually; we thought it was funny. So that’s why we did Contra first and just teased Castlevania officially.”

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Galante explains that working with Konami is collaborative. “We start by giving them the ideas that they want to go through, just to see if they're on brand. And then we just do literally whatever I want. I submit the stuff I made to them, and we get approval. It’s very simple.”

Sadly, with Castlevania designer Koji Igarashi no longer with Konami, he had no input on the DLC. But Galante reveals that he met with his hero in Japan earlier in the year, and while he couldn’t show him the content as it was still in development, it was great to catch up.

With the Konami connection so strong, we couldn’t help but ponder whether Metal Gear may be next? “I think that would be too much pressure,” he smiles. “I know Metal Gear probably as well as Castlevania, but I would really feel too much pressure. I would never say no, but I would be really, really scared.”

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The plan for Vampire Survivors, however, is to keep adding to the experience. “After I released the game, I didn't know what to do after that. I wasn’t looking at much in the future. So I just tried to publish a very small patch – 1.1, I believe – and people absolutely loved it.”

That proved to be a eureka moment.

“I was like, well, you know what? I’m just going to keep doing this. I could make a sequel, but it doesn't feel correct. If I make a sequel of the game, but just the same game with different content, I feel like I’m cheating the players, really, because I can just make more content for this game. And so that's what I'm planning to do.”

It’s obvious speaking to Galante that he’s still enjoying working on Vampire Survivors, and that filters through to the end product. But to maintain that excitement, he’s only interested in working with brands that he’s personally passionate about.

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“We had a lot of requests to collaborate,” he admits. “Sometimes with big franchises. But I'm like, if I don't feel a connection there, I can’t really push it to the players.”

In terms of future expansions, Galante says he does have a long list of ideas, but it sounds like he’d much rather tackle something niche. “I get scared easily [of popular franchises],” he jokes. “I’d rather do something very obscure that I'm the only one in the world or in the West who knows.”

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With the Halloween party getting into full swing, and our time limited, we did have one burning question left: at less than the price of an average London coffee, why is Vampire Survivors so cheap?

“I didn't know what the right price would be,” he remembers. “I had a meeting with a bunch of contractors and business experts, and these people said I could easily charge at least £10 (~$13) for the game and it will sell very well. But I’d rather find a price that feels fair, compared to just the price that has to make money. It just doesn't make sense to me, because Poncle is a company with no investors, it's not a public company, we do not have to make money. That’s not our goal.”

This interview has been lightly edited for readability. We’d like to thank both Luca and the Poncle team for inviting us to the party and taking time to chat with us. Have you started the Ode to Castlevania add-on yet? What would you like to see next for Vampire Survivors? Let us know in the comments section below.

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About Sammy Barker

As the Editor of Push Square, Sammy has over 15 years of experience analysing the world of PlayStation, from PS3 through PS5 and everything in between. He’s an expert on PS Studios and industry matters, as well as sports games and simulators. He also enjoys RPGs when he has the time to dedicate to them, and is a bit of a gacha whale.

Comments 12

What I would like to see next for Vampire Survivors is a Trailer Park Boys crossover or maybe even Butt Ugly Martians DLC

I was like, £3.99, sure ill give it a shot. After about half an hour id bought all the dlc. I’m happy to support the folks, the game is so much fun and theres so much to unlock. Must have put 70 hours in to it in a couple of weeks

They’re the model for businesses that I want to support. I love the game, absolutely happy to support it especially with the price being what they are for the DLC.

Yeah it's such a no brainer. So cheap and tons of value. Was great to talk with Luca!

@AfroMario Butt Ugly Martians, now there's a deep cut.

Wonderful little interview! I've always held a high level of appreciation in regards to poncle for offering so much for so little and their latest content effort is no exception (seriously I have absolutely no clue how they got away with charging only €4 for something as massive in scope/content as this XD).

As for myself, I grabbed Ode to Castlevania day-and-date and have had an absolutely wonderful time tearing up the halls of Dracula's Castle so far (TREVOR BELMONT MY BELOVED) and can't wait to see what else is to come in the pipeline for VS! 🧄

Can we really call this a "Crossover"?

Feels more like the IP that this game has very obviously borrowing from is getting an official blessing from Konami!

LOL!

It's a great game - I absolutely love it. I was just shocked how much it seemed to get away with without catching some kind of flak from Konami.

The whole game felt like an original idea for the Castlevania IP but got rejected so the developers changed a few sprites and character names to be...not quite Castlevania related.

I am just glad they were able to get the "real deal" into the game. It's a brilliant title!

Golden Axe!
but I think he rather make Lemmings or Prehistorik.

@GamingFan4Lyf He mentions in the interview that he started development with a Castlevania assets pack lol.

@AfroMario this is the second time today Butt Ugly Martians has come up for me, I was listening to The Snark Tank Podcast and Chris mentioned it on there. So obscure.

I agree 100% with him.

@DrVenture69 same here. I bought in and after a couple of runs I'd bought all the dlc too.

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