Poncle tease that they're working on things "not exclusively related to Vampire Survivors"

Vampire Survivors was one of 2022 biggest hits, sinking its teeth into me and countless other victims. The RPS Treehouse even named the bullet hell beast the best game of 2022 In a Steam community blog, developer Poncle celebrated the mega-successful year they just had, highlighting their accolades and the fact they were the most played game on Steam Deck over the last six months - half of that playtime probably came from me in my bed; you’re welcome, Poncle. But, despite their Vampire-y success, the devs have already begun to tease something "not exclusively related" to their big hit.

At the end of their blog, the devs get mysterious when talking about what they're working on. “There’s a lot of stuff, not exclusively related to Vampire Survivors, getting made behind the scenes in poncle,” they say. Their wording brings up lots of questions. Is it a brand new game? Something Vampire Survivors-adjacent? What does "exclusively related" even mean? Whatever it is, I’ll have my cloves of garlic ready. I just like garlic.

Elsewhere in the blog, the devs state the new Vampire Survivors engine should be coming before the end of 2023, though the game’s JavaScript version will be supported until “some time next year.” The new engine will help with “better performance, improved hardware compatibility, and more options,” which should satisfy all the Steam Deckers out there, since Vampire Survivor’s swarm of pixels sometimes stutters on the handheld.

The new engine’s delay was due to the pesky mobile market. After failing to find a business partner, Poncle noticed a swarm of clones on mobile who ripped code straight from VS in some cases. This, they say, “forced our hand to release the mobile game ASAP,” meaning the team didn’t have time to release the new engine on PC before the new year.

If you’re like me and have an insatiable thirst for more Vampire Survivors, the team is working on more DLC packs that will include new characters, weapons, and stages, just like the first. Hopefully, we’ll find the vampire we’ve been searching for. Alongside paid DLC packs, Poncle are planning on updating the game “regularly with main game mechanics and content (think Tiny Bridge-style patches).”

I'm sure Vampire Survivors will keep us satisfied until poncle's mysterious next thing comes to fruition. As Matt said in his review, it's "an unquestionably compulsive treat" and the DLC just prolongs the sweetness.