I’ve been obsessed with poncle’s Vampire Survivor ever since I first played the game during Steam Deck Early Access a few years ago. It’s been ported to Xbox with the launch of Xbox Game Pass, made its way to mobile devices, released on Nintendo Switch, and most recently to Apple Arcade, with a PS5 release imminent. Across so many platforms, DLC releases, collaborations and free updates, I’ve been wanting to chat with the team at poncle for a while now. I finally had the chance to chat with Geo Morgan (Lead Partner Manager) and the poncle team about a variety of topics including working with different platforms, how Xbox Game Pass can help gaming, Apple support, potential physical releases, and my favorite coffee reaction , and more.
TouchArcade (TA): A lot has changed for Vampire Survivor and poncle since launching into Early Access on PC. How does the team grow?
Geo Morgan and Punk (GM): The team has grown a lot since its inception! We now have over 25 employees across multiple disciplines. We cross paths frequently and without being blocked from seeing what each other is doing, we have a channel in our workspace that ensures everyone can stay updated on all the fun stuff we do. It’s very exciting to watch the team grow (for example, there were about 12 people when I joined) and it’s inspiring to see all the work that everyone does every day.
face: Since its release on PC, Vampire Survivor has been released on Xbox, mobile devices, Switch, and will also be released on PlayStation in the future. How does the game perform on all these platforms?
President: The team has learned a lot working on all current platforms and this knowledge has been invaluable. Each system has its own unique characteristics and requirements, so it’s great to learn the best way to apply them all to Vampire Survivor, while also bringing the game to new audiences on various platforms. We find it important to take the time to do the port internally so that we can ensure equal content and experience for our players.
face: Vampire Survivor is now available on Xbox Game Pass and will soon be available on Apple Arcade. While it’s too early to say how it will fare in the latter, how will Xbox Game Pass impact the game?
President: Our partnership with Xbox has been excellent. Game Pass as a whole does such a great job for people who just want to try one game, and does a great job of removing the barrier to entry for hundreds of games, ours being one of them. This is great for Vampire Survivor because it’s a game that you just “get” once you play it.
face: Having played the game in Early Access on Steam Deck, through updates, on Xbox and Switch (in addition to iPhone and iPad), it’s great to see how much performance has improved while everything has become more complex. What can we expect from the Apple Arcade version of the update?
President: First of all, thank you for playing all versions! All of our content updates (such as Whiteout, Astral Stair, Tiny Bridge, Space-54, Laboratory, etc.) will be available on the Apple Arcade version of Vampire Survivors+, and all free content updates we make in the future will also be available, one Items we may be working on with other things at the moment. As long as we provide free content updates across all formats, Apple Arcade players will have access to them. However, any DLC we create will be added to the Apple Arcade version.
face: You previously told me that Among Us and Contra DLC were not included in Apple Arcade for licensing reasons. Does this mean that Apple Arcade will not be able to use the cross-save feature when it is launched on other platforms?
President: Upon launch, Cross-Save will not work between Apple Arcade and App Store versions, but we are investigating the issue internally.
face: How is its partnership with Apple on Vampire Survivor+ going?
President: very good! The people at Apple are clear-minded, very friendly, and easy to work with, and they were always available to answer any questions we had and any challenges we encountered during the development process.
face: poncle does a great job of responding to player feedback across platforms. Are there any requests from players that you haven’t yet fulfilled?
President: We read and consider almost everything, and sometimes we are able to deal with the feedback directly, and other times we just let it simmer and ultimately influence our future decisions. A big problem we’ve been grappling with for years is how to manage platform achievements so that we can keep both players who want them and players who don’t want them happy! Obviously we haven’t found a solution yet, but we’ve been talking to different platforms and testing weird stuff.
face: If there were no restrictions and an unlimited budget, which games or IPs would you choose in Vampire Survivor?
President: We have about 30 IPs on our first dream collaboration list that we won’t be entering, but we hope to tick more off as the game continues!
face: Given the low asking price for the game and DLC, do you think, in retrospect, that the game was priced too low? I definitely feel that way considering how much I get out of it on all platforms.
President: not at all! We hear “you’re charging too little” a lot, but we feel the game’s production values are what it deserves.
face: Since the Apple Arcade version doesn’t include all the DLC available on other platforms, can we expect anything exclusive to the Apple Arcade version?
President: We’re not fans of exclusive content, we’d rather put our energy into providing the same content for everyone.
face: Will you let players play as vampires?
President: What is a vampire?
face: Do you plan to implement DualSense haptic technology for the upcoming PS5 version?
President: When we launch on PlayStation 5, the DualSense will sadly not have any haptic support and active triggers won’t function, but the traditional rumble will still be there. That’s not to say we won’t add it in the future, however, we’re always keeping an eye on new features across all platforms and seeing how they can be implemented into Vampire Survivor.
face: Will we be able to transfer Apple Arcade saved content to the standalone App Store version, or vice versa?
President: This is something we’ll be looking into, but at launch, the cross-save feature between the Apple Arcade and App Store versions won’t be enabled.
face: Has the team considered creating a soundtrack DLC to introduce new composers and use classic Vampire Survivor music as an OST choice?
President: It’s fun, but I think the logistics would be scary.
face: What is your favorite aspect of the game right now and one thing you’d like to improve?
President: My favorite aspect remains the reason for making games in the first place, it provides a simple gaming platform that allows us to easily create content. What needs improvement is the way massive amounts of content are managed and how it impacts platform achievement.
face: Are there any plans to release a physical version or album?
President: Physical media and other media is definitely something we’ve been thinking about for a while and we’ve been actively discussing it. As a group of people who collect vinyl records, retro video games, books, etc., it would be nice to see one of our own games in the collection in some way! We already offer a number of items in different parts of the web and this is an ongoing work project.
face: I think Vampire Survivor and Balatero are the two indie games I’ve played the most in years. Are there any crossover opportunities between the two?
President: Many of us (as you can see below) are deeply involved in the LocalThunks world of Jimbo and his multi-building clown friends, so it won’t be out of the question (couldn’t leave without a card joke ), because we like to keep our ideas open and we like to have them be a truly open pipeline. For us, nothing is truly impossible.
face: What games are you and the poncle team enjoying playing this year?
President: There are many answers to this question! My favorite of the year so far is probably Yakuza: Infinite Fortune, but I know there are people on the team who have played a lot of Balatro, Shadow of the Erdtree, Chained Together, Dave the Diver , Helldivers 2, and Animal Well, and some people also checked out SaGa: Emerald Beyond and The Flintlock. We have a Final Fantasy XIV Online player on the team who is heavily involved in the new expansion with multiple characters, and Deadly Company has been a team favorite for some time.
face: Do you like your coffee?
Punkler: So, I feel like this is a perfect question for our entire team, so here are as many answers as I can get from the team:
- Matte black.
- Lee – is also black.
- Kerri – the milkiest, sweetest coffee in existence
- David – Out – Caramel Iced Latte with Cream. Morning coffee – black coffee from the cafe (may have sugar added on weekends)
- Zak – Black filter coffee, preferably Hermanos Yellow Fruits as it tastes like Um Bongo mixed with unleaded petrol
- Master – Chamomile Tea
- Geo – black, no sugar, no milk, little cold water (any variety, instant, coffee pot, filter, I’m an animal, sorry)
- Nikki – green tea
- Adam – pure white
- Owen – I’m a mocha lover, a chocoholic. If my coffee was too bitter, I would die. I like my beans freshly ground beforehand so I can have some control over my incredible life. Busy Life. I used the inverted Aeropress technique because I wanted to give the impression that I was cultured, even though I have a hard time wearing a T-shirt inside out every day. If I don’t spend £3.50 on a tiny coffee in an independent shop with minimalist furniture and a lo-fi remix of a Charli XCX song playing on loop, then what’s the point? However, I drink a Frappuccino every now and then.
- Lucy – herbal tea!
- Julie – delicious oat milk latte made in a pink Nespresso machine
- Arran – Very dark. Filter, espresso or Americano
- Lucca – Tiramisu
I’d like to thank Geo Morgan and the poncle team, as well as Jennifer Tam and Peter Nguyen at Apple for their time and help.
You can follow all of our interviews here, including our recent interview with Capcom’s Shuhei Matsumoto on Marvel Vs Capcom, here, Santa Ragione, Peter ‘Durante’ Thoman on PH3 and Falcom, here, M2 discussing shmups and more Wait, here we are, Digital Extremes for Warframe Mobile, Team Ninja, sonic dream team, Hi-Fi Audio Sprint, remorse, and more. As always, thank you for reading.
