Poncle Says 15-Plus Projects Are in Work After Vampire Survivors Passes 27 Million Players

More than 15 projects, not necessarily 15 full games

Poncle, the studio behind Vampire Survivors, is working on more than 15 projects, according to a Video Games Chronicle report published on April 22, 2026. VGC later clarified that the figure refers to projects, which can include updates and DLC, not necessarily 15 full standalone games.

The expansion follows the long tail of Vampire Survivors, which Poncle says has passed 27 million players since its 2022 release. The studio released Vampire Crawlers this week, a deck-builder spin-off, but chief strategy officer Matteo Sapio told The Game Business that Poncle is also investing in original IP and new Survivors-style projects based on outside properties.

Japan and Italy studios support collaboration

Poncle is opening studios in Japan and Italy to work with local companies and keep teams small. Sapio described a model built around groups of roughly five, 10, or 15 people, with producers and designers supporting agile project teams. The studio has also paused its third-party publishing business after releasing Kill The Brickman and Berserk or Die.

For outside IP, Poncle says it uses a Vampire Survivor Engine template and works with teams that understand the source material. Warhammer Survivors is one example of that approach. Sapio said Poncle may build projects itself when it knows the IP well, but will collaborate when the lore is deep enough that specialist teams reduce fan-facing risk.

The near-term question is output control. A 15-plus project slate can spread a small studio thin if every project needs launch support, platform certification, and balance updates. Poncle's answer appears to be small teams, reusable engine work, and selective collaboration rather than one large internal production machine. That keeps the structure close to the original Vampire Survivors development model while giving the company more shots on goal.

Community signal

The r/Games thread was created on 2026-04-22 and reached about 238 upvotes and 55 comments. Comments focused on the Warhammer Survivors collaboration and on Poncle reinvesting Vampire Survivors revenue into more experiments instead of scaling into a conventional AAA structure.

Primary source: VGC.