Vampire Survivors’ new higher price is still worth sinking your teeth into

A $2 price increase is but a pittance for the beloved bullet hell indie game

When it was announced that Vampire Survivors — a darling of the indie gaming community — is increasing its price on September 21st ahead of its V1.0 release, some folks may have expected the worst. Thankfully, its developer, studio Poncle, has now announced that the game’s list price on Steam will increase by a paltry $2, bringing it to $4.99 starting at 6PM ET.

That means there’s still time to grab the game for $2.99, the price it’s been since entering early access back in December 2021. Studio Poncle says that the decision to increase prices ahead of the game’s full release was to “keep the option open to eventually enter some of the usual seasonal sales.” The game is also available on PC Game Pass, with no mention of any plans to remove it from the platform upon leaving early access.

For those unaware of Vampire Survivors, it’s a bullet hell-style rogue-lite with a pixel art style where you have to survive an onslaught of gothic enemies with a variety of unique unlockable characters. The game has almost 120,000 reviews on Steam right now, with 98 percent of players ranking it as “overwhelmingly positive.” It was also the most-played game on Valve’s gaming handheld Steam Deck this August, beating AAA titles like Elden Ring. The Verge’s own Jay Peters and Antonio G. Di Benedetto have sunk around 100 combined hours into the game already and note that those numbers are fairly low compared to what some individual players can achieve.

It also looks like we could be getting some additional lore and updates for that $2 increase, as Stephanie Sterling, a renowned freelance game journalist and YouTuber, has announced they are going to be writing content for the game. There’s very little story or lore to the game at present, but as far as getting your money’s worth is concerned, Vampire Survivors is already an absolute must-buy. 

Still, if you wanted to hang on until you find out what the game will look like outside of early access before you reach for your wallet, you won’t have long to wait. Studio Poncle says the release date of Vampire Survivors 1.0 will be announced on September 29th along with an overview of all the “extra surprises and goodies awaiting fans in the finished version of the game.”