Poncle, the studio behind Vampire Survivors, is expanding with ambitious plans. The company is opening two new studios, one in Japan and one in Italy, and has more than 15 games in active development. This is a major move for a developer best known for a single hit franchise. According to chief strategy officer Matteo Sapio, Poncle is working on three types of games. First, there are spin-offs of Vampire Survivors, like the recently released deckbuilder Vampire Crawlers. Second, the company is creating original intellectual property, with two new games set in entirely new universes on the way. Third, Poncle is developing roguelites that use the core mechanics of Vampire Survivors but are based on other existing franchises. One example is Warhammer Survivors, a roguelite set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe that is expected to release on Steam later this year. To support these projects, Poncle has built its own game engine. This engine is designed to quickly transform existing IPs into games that play like Vampire Survivors. The original Vampire Survivors has already surpassed 27 million players, showing strong demand for the genre. Other games like Halls of Torment, Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor, and Soulstone Survivors have also found success, proving that the market for top-down bullet hell roguelites is robust. Despite this growth, Poncle has decided to pause all third-party publishing plans after releasing a couple of games last year. Sapio said it was a learning experience, and the company realized it could not provide the proper support. Poncle may revisit publishing in the future. There is always risk when a studio expands rapidly. The article draws a comparison to Embracer Group, which went on a massive buying spree and later had to sell off and close many studios. However, Poncle is not a AAA developer. The company focuses on indie titles, and the new studios will be lean operations with small teams. Sapio explained that this structure will help keep the company agile and flexible. Personally, I have high hopes for this expansion. The recently released spin-off Vampire Crawlers is excellent. It mixes the deck-building of Slay the Spire with a first-person dungeon crawler like Etrian Odyssey, while keeping the feel of Vampire Survivors. If Poncle can maintain this level of quality, gamers have a lot to look forward to.
