“I’m Making This For Me, Not To Make Everyone Happy”: Vampire Survivors Creator On His Next Game

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The creator of the hit game Vampire Survivors, Luca Galante, is surprisingly elusive, much like the game’s vampires. When Vampire Survivors won a BAFTA award in 2023, it was his team at Poncle who accepted it. Galante often avoids public appearances, using screens or stand-ins at conventions. Even in a documentary about the game’s success, he chose to be represented by a fantastic puppet resembling the game’s famous vampire instead of appearing on camera himself.

Even after I got to Lucca, Italy to try out Poncle’s new game, Vampire Crawlers, the stories about Luca Galante kept circulating. Several Poncle developers told me with a smile how much they enjoyed adding to the mystery around him. When fans asked about Galante, they’d playfully suggest he might be nearby, even hinting that they were him. Matteo Sapio, Poncle’s chief strategy officer, chuckled, explaining that Galante is indeed incredibly talented, but also a genuinely kind and down-to-earth person who simply cherishes his privacy.

I was thrilled when, just an hour after meeting Luca, we were side-by-side on a comfy old couch, excitedly discussing our shared love for Final Fantasy and playing Vampire Survivors on a big, old-fashioned TV.

Luca Galante might seem reserved at first, but he’s actually very enthusiastic when talking about things he cares about – especially his work, the community around it, and video games. After just half an hour playing his new game, Vampire Crawlers, I ended up talking with him for almost an hour about the game’s development, how it feels to move beyond working alone, and when players can finally get their hands on it at home.

TopMob: So, what inspired the decision to set Crawlers in the same universe?

We decided early on to continue developing the Vampire Survivors brand because the original game was so successful. I saw a real opportunity in leveraging that established name. Creating a new game with a similar concept but a different IP would mean it would just get lost among the many other deck-building games available. Using the Vampire Survivors name gives us a strong advantage – we can immediately tell players this is a Vampire Survivors experience, offering familiar elements and capturing the same feeling as the original.

Beyond just wanting to try something new, I really wanted to capture what makes Vampire Survivors so enjoyable in different game types. I originally created Vampire Survivors as a personal project, and for me, its appeal lies in being simple, satisfying, and avoiding unnecessary frustration. My goal with this new game was to bring those same feelings to life.

It’s a huge weight off my shoulders not having to invent completely new worlds, characters, and storylines for this game. I really don’t enjoy forcing creativity; I prefer when ideas flow naturally. What’s most important to me with this project is how the game plays. Being able to use established settings and characters lets me concentrate on perfecting the gameplay mechanics.

So, when I first started making Survivors, it was literally just me doing everything – coding, art, design, the whole shebang! It was a lot. But now, working with a team is amazing. It’s been a huge shift, going from being a one-person army to collaborating with a bunch of talented people. They bring so many fresh ideas and help take the game to a level I never could have reached on my own. It’s way more fun, honestly, and we’re able to build so much more, so much faster. It’s a really cool experience.

I initially created Vampire Survivors just as a personal hobby. However, even from the beginning, I wasn’t working with entirely original content. I used a Castlevania-inspired art pack – it was more of a medieval gothic style, but heavily influenced by that game. I was also listening to Castlevania music while developing it, and later used that same music as inspiration when I hired composers.

Although I created Vampire Survivors on my own, I’ve always gotten feedback from others. Now, to keep the game updated and running smoothly across all platforms, I need help. Managing releases and testing is really complicated, and it’s valuable to bounce ideas off someone who understands the game as well as I do. I actually enjoy this collaborative process.

I didn’t initially focus on the specifics of the characters and weapons. Instead, I collaborated with the incredibly talented pixel artist, Glauber Kotaki, and I’m thrilled with how it went. I’d share my ideas with Glauber, and he’d not only refine them but also add his own creative touches. It was a really collaborative process – we bounced ideas off each other constantly, aiming to create something engaging and enjoyable for players.

It’s definitely more challenging now, and takes much longer. But it’s a different, enjoyable kind of challenge. To be honest, when I have free time – especially on weekends when I’m by myself – I don’t have to think about work or meetings. I can just relax and work on my projects whenever I feel like it. It really gives me the best of both worlds.

You know, I was just thinking about Glauber, and it reminded me of something I’ve noticed with a lot of sequels. It’s like developers always want to overhaul everything and make it super “modern,” but with Crawlers, it really feels like Vampire Survivors. The art style, especially, is so recognizable. I’m curious, what made you guys decide to stick with that original look and feel?

My approach was very straightforward and focused on what was feasible. I wanted to reuse all the existing materials because changing them would likely upset players and also add to the project’s expenses. I prefer to avoid risks and don’t want to create games with budgets that could jeopardize the company’s financial stability.

Originally, we planned to market the game by highlighting that it was made using recycled assets – it was a very cost-effective approach. We even joked about maximizing our use of those existing elements. However, as development progressed, we became genuinely passionate about the game and wanted to expand on it beyond just being a recycled project.

Basically, we’re reusing some of the older 3D elements, but we’ve added new icons and animations. We’re planning to keep the character designs as they are, since there’s no compelling reason to change them. People already have a strong image of what the characters look like, and we want to respect that. When creating new artwork or animations, we encourage artists to put their own spin on the characters rather than following rigid guidelines.

I really enjoyed working on this, and I want everyone else involved in the game to feel that same creative freedom and be able to add their own unique ideas.

We’re aiming to keep the user interface similar to the original – there’s no need to completely redesign it. Ultimately, I want the focus to be on gameplay improvements. The overall experience should feel familiar but also updated and revitalized.

That makes sense. You don’t need to reinvent something that clearly works.

Honestly, I’m never quite sure if things are really working as intended! I often wonder if I got lucky despite some rough spots. All I can do is keep building what I think feels right, and then really listen to what players think. If a bunch of people say something like the confirm button is hard to reach, I’ll definitely move it. But until I hear that feedback, I’m just trusting my instincts and hoping for the best.

When I first started playing Vampire Crawlers, I found it to be surprisingly slow-paced and strategic. It’s interesting because these days, it feels like everyone has a short attention span and just wants quick, instant gratification. I was curious, were you worried about making a game that wasn’t as fast-paced as many others?

I always start by considering my own enjoyment when developing a game. I explained to the team that I’m essentially building this game for myself – I need to be the first person who loves playing it. That’s the core idea I want to bring to life. I use my own preferences as a benchmark to ensure we’re on the right track. Because I enjoy games like Vampire Survivors, I’m confident others who share my tastes will enjoy this one too.

I’m not sure how many people will be interested, and frankly, I don’t worry about it. If I focus on what players expect or try to please everyone, I’ll end up making something ordinary. I’d rather be creative and take a small risk. As long as I believe in the game myself, I’m confident I can make it work.

I’m not concerned about mixed reactions. Some people will enjoy it, some won’t, and others will really love it. Often, people initially dislike something, but then give it a chance and find it’s not so bad. We see this a lot with Vampire Survivors – it’s easy to dismiss because of how it looks.

The “Play All” button was added to address a common issue in these types of games: becoming too powerful. When you’re easily winning, even simple fights can become tedious because you already know the outcome and still have to manually play cards. The “Play All” button lets the game automatically play all your cards at once, speeding things up and removing that repetitive feeling.

Plus, the game really picks up speed. You get a great feeling of accomplishment from finishing a battle quickly, and then things move along at a fast pace, which I really enjoy. I often find myself immediately starting the next set of battles, even after I’ve already won.

It’s great that you focus on your own enjoyment when creating games. I believe it’s hard to be truly creative if you’re worried about what others will think. Trying to please everyone usually results in something just… okay, because you end up aiming for what’s common instead of what’s special.

Once the game is released, I’ll absolutely be listening to what players have to say. Vampire Survivors is a great example of why I released it as an early access title – I really wanted to get feedback from players. Initially, it was mostly a way to connect with other Castlevania fans, share jokes, and acknowledge references. But it quickly grew into something much bigger.

After that, I began planning the full release of Vampire Survivors. I decided to use feedback from players and the community to guide the development roadmap. I had a general idea of the features, but I wanted the community to help prioritize what would be added to the early-access game. However, with my next game, I’m aiming for a different approach – I want to launch a complete and finished product from the start.

This game is launching with a bit more uncertainty, but we’re planning to closely monitor what players think after release. We’ll use their feedback to guide future development – whether that means adding new features, creating downloadable content, exploring collaborations, or even developing spin-off games.

Lately, I’ve been seeing a lot of talk about players feeling ‘entitled,’ and honestly, I get it to a certain degree. As a developer, I see it this way: players are investing in us – with their money and, even more importantly, their time. They’re directly helping me do what I love and, well, earn a living! Because of that, I think they deserve a polished game, and for us to actually listen to their feedback and respond. Ultimately, they deserve a good experience, period.

Deckbuilding games are really popular at the moment, so what made you choose that style for this spin-off when you had so many other possibilities?

To be honest, Vampire Crawlers wasn’t our original plan. We began by exploring five different game ideas, working with various small development teams. We were experimenting to see what would stick, and Vampire Crawlers quickly became the clear frontrunner. The team immediately grasped the core concept and delivered a fantastic initial prototype. It just progressed much more smoothly and quickly than the other projects – it wasn’t a calculated decision, but rather a natural outcome of their success.

What were some of the other ideas?

There were games everywhere! It wasn’t a sports event, but I’m really into role-playing games, and I had a couple different ones in development. If you notice references to other games while playing Vampire Survivors, it’s likely I’m working on a game inspired by that genre.

Honestly, my first thought when I saw this was, “Wow, this would be perfect as a Metroidvania!” It just immediately clicked in my head as that kind of game.

You know, it honestly feels like a perfect match. It just clicks, and it makes so much sense! If we ever got the chance to do something like that – and I really hope we do – I’d immediately go to Konami and ask if we could use the Castlevania name. It’s just that obvious, that perfect of a fit!

I’ve been thinking about making a Metroidvania game, and I’d probably set it in the world with the characters from Legacy of the Moonspell, or potentially with the setting from Tides of the Foscari. I’d like to do something a bit different than Vampire Survivors, though.

One thing that makes Crawlers different from Survivors is this central hub area. Will you be adding more to it in the future? Also, are there any other new features you’re particularly excited about players experiencing?

I’m not a fan of games that let you heavily customize a village. When I’m focused on card gameplay, adding complex village management feels like it takes things too far. We’re keeping the village relatively simple – it’s currently a circular layout, but we can still add new buildings within that circle over time. This allows us to expand and incorporate new features without completely changing the core design.

The heart of the game is the fighting itself. All other features simply support and enhance that core experience, giving us a reason to make the combat as good as possible. I’m excited to explore its potential and see what players are hoping for.

I believe Crawlers has a lot of promise. While the game isn’t about exploration, the fact that it’s included creates interesting possibilities. I’m eager to see how players react to it – whether they’ll want to see more exploration added, less, or larger areas to discover.

As a fan, I’m really excited about how much content there is and how much more they’re planning! The developers are building the game with tons of unlockable stuff, and they’re aiming for it to grow as big as Vampire Survivors eventually. They had to set some limits for the initial release, originally planning for a certain number of characters. But, true to form for Poncle – they always end up doubling their initial goals! It’s kind of their thing – they deliberately start small, knowing they’ll add way more than planned.

How many characters did you end up bringing over?

We’re aiming for around 20 to 21 playable characters, and each one will be quite unique. Unlike Vampire Survivors, where characters initially just determined your starting weapon and didn’t have different stats, these characters will have distinct passive abilities, triggered abilities, and begin with different starting decks. Early versions of Vampire Survivors were a bit too simple, so we later added small bonuses to each character, but these new characters are significantly more complex.

The game grew to a point where adding new characters just to sell new starting weapons felt like a quick and easy tactic. Now, each character needs to offer a genuinely unique gameplay experience. With Crawlers, we made a rule early on that every character should be distinct and effective, which meant creating 21 different starting decks – it’s a substantial amount of content.

Plus, the final game lets you bring up to three characters along, letting you combine their special abilities and effects. Even if you only play a single card, it can actually trigger a chain of ten different actions because of all the combined abilities.

Are there plans to bring Vampire Crawlers to mobile?

I really want to release this game on all platforms worldwide at the same time. It’s a very challenging goal and puts a lot of pressure on the team, but I think our dedicated community deserves it. They’ve been incredibly patient and supportive with Vampire Survivors, so we want to get this new game into their hands as quickly as possible. It’s going to be tough, but we’re going to try our best to make it happen.

Do you have a release date planned for the game?

I was hoping to launch the game this year, but I ran into an issue. It just wasn’t quite where I wanted it to be. Initially, the deckbuilding aspect wasn’t as prominent, and the game lacked depth. Players started giving feedback that they were excited about future customization options, but we hadn’t planned for much of that yet.

I quickly understood players had certain expectations. Card games are a popular genre now, so people anticipate a deep and engaging deckbuilding system. That’s what I focused on improving – I wanted it to be immediately satisfying and truly central to the gameplay experience.

Including that major new feature means we’re now releasing next year, though I don’t have a firm date yet. I’m trying to steer clear of the timeframe when Grand Theft Auto VI comes out – not because our game will compete with it directly, but because everything will be overshadowed by it.

The above interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

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2025-11-20 22:19