There was once a time when crossing over with Fortnite meant that you had pretty much made it in the video games space, with some of the biggest franchises in the world collaborating with Epic Games in one form or another. While the popular indie hit Vampire Survivors was set to find its way into Fortnite, recent GenAI controversies pertaining to Epic Games now has studio Poncle “reviewing” their plans for said crossover.

During the company’s recent State of Unreal presentation, Epic Games announced a boatload of upcoming crossovers planned to be heading to Fortnite throughout the rest of 2026. Totalling over 30 different IPs, some of the games listed included Sonic Racing Crossworlds, Control Resonant; Phantom Blade 0 and Vampire Survivors.

While initially met with some excitement, this quickly dissipated as the company confirmed that they have been using generative AI to help create and design concept art for Fortnite.

In the wake of this, Vampire Survivors studio Poncle responded to the revelations, making a stance against the practice while re-evaluating their recently-announced collaboration – taking to the official Vampire Survivors subreddit to write: “Following today's news about gen AI usage by Epic to create all sort of game assets, including Fortnite characters, we're currently ‘reviewing’ our collaboration with Fortnite. We'll let you know if anything moves forward.”

Based on the wording, whether the collab goes through or not seems to depend on how much wiggle room there is with the contract which Poncle likely signed prior to the announcement.

We will have to wait and see, but if nothing else, it is encouraging to see some of Epic’s own partners seemingly trying to put their money where their mouths are.

KitGuru says: Are you surprised by Epic’s recent GenAI revelations? Could Epic Games reverse-course given enough of a backlash? Let us know your thoughts down below.

Update 22/04/2026: Developer Poncle has since clarified that it has "15 new projects," which does not necessarily mean it has 15 new games in development. These projects can include anything from a new game, free updates for Vampire Survivors, DLCs, etc. The headline of this article has been updated to reflect the correct language. Original Story: Vampire Survivors was one of the standout hits when it launched in 2022, selling over a million copies in a matter of months and taking home Best Game at the BAFTAs. Its developer Poncle has grown to be able to publish other titles like […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/vampire-survivors-developer-poncle-has-over-15-games-in-development-two-original-ips/

Vampire Survivors studio, Poncle, has been hard at work on a new game alongside various DLCs for its breakout hit. The new game, Vampire Crawlers, is a direct spin-off that incorporates deck building elements for a new addictive gameplay loop. Following a demo release earlier this year, Poncle has now announced the release date for the game. 

Vampire Crawlers will officially launch on PC (via Steam), Xbox Series X/S, PS5 and Nintendo Switch on the 21st of April. Like the original Vampire Survivors, it will be a cheap game even at launch, hitting the market with a $9.99 price tag. You can watch the full announcement trailer below:

Vampire Crawlers is described as a ‘turboturn deckbuilder', offering bite-sized chunks of gameplay for quick sessions. Players won't have to pause for animations to complete before triggering their next move, and the game intelligently stacks and executes your ability inputs, so you can speedrun through rounds and watch the chaos play out.

The game will also offer customisable cards, so you can create new cards with a variety of effects and multipliers as part of your own unique strategy.

KitGuru Says: I was a big fan of Vampire Survivors and ended up sinking an unspeakable number of hours into it. Hopefully Vampire Crawlers can capture that same magic with a new but equally fun gameplay loop. 

Vampire Survivors blew up when the reverse-bullet-hell rogue-lite released back in 2022, spawning an entirely new sub-genre of ‘bullet-heavens’. Developed by the studio Poncle, the team are now set to tackle the dungeon-crawling card-battler scene, with Vampire Crawlers: The Turbo Wildcard now receiving an official demo ahead of its launch later this year.

Vampire Crawlers is a spin-off of the highly-popular Vampire Survivors. Set to release some time in early-mid 2026, this new take on the formula sees many familiar elements from Survivors being adapted to fit the upcoming first-person dungeon-crawling deckbuilder.

Seemingly featuring a similar level of buildcrafting, Vampire Crawlers looks to be a highly fun and addictive title which may very well spawn its own set of inspirations – bringing the dungeon crawling genre back into the limelight.

Regardless of whether this is the direction you were hoping to see Poncle head in, both fans and sceptics alike can try out ‘Vampire Crawlers: The Turbo Wildcard from Vampire Survivors’ right now thanks to a free demo.

Vampire Survivors is genuinely one of the most impactful indie games released in quite some time, and so it will be interesting to see how the industry responds to the team at Poncle’s next big project.

KitGuru says: What do you think of Vampire Crawlers? Will it scratch the same itch as Survivors? Let us know your thoughts down below.