Luca Galante went from flipping burgers in Thornton Heath to accidentally creating a gaming sensation in one of the few true indie developer rags-to-riches tales
Luca Galante went from flipping burgers in Thornton Heath to accidentally creating a gaming sensation in one of the few true indie developer rags-to-riches tales
Seeing a throng of passionate players flocking around his prototype, Galante’s peers eventually encouraged him to release the game on Valve’s Steam storefront – and that’s when Vampire Survivors exploded.
Thanks to a series of YouTubers raving about this exhilarating indie, the pandemic project suddenly topped the Steam Charts, with players racking up hundreds of in-game hours.
Despite teams of hundreds working on FromSoftware’s Elden Ring or PlayStation’s God of War Ragnarok, it is this endearingly pure, fun-first gameplay loop that saw Galante’s bedroom baby beat billion-dollar blockbusters to the Best Game Bafta.
Undoubtedly it will have irked developers at Sony Santa Monica and FromSoftware, who spent years crafting their intricate worlds and stories, to be beaten by a game that, by the admission of its own creator “literally makes no sense”.
“After working a few years in the gambling industry, I found out that I could be happy even without living my dream … with Vampire Survivors, I could clearly see its potential, and it just felt fun to make with no end goal in mind, so I just kept going.”
Now boasting an eye-watering 6m sales on Steam, an additional 3m downloads on mobile and with a Nintendo Switch version launching this month (17 August), Vampire Survivors has been a considerable moneymaker.
When I started playing VS, I was struck by how much the chest opening animation FELT like a slot machine - it was weird to encounter what normally feels like a predatory experience and have it NOT be trying to take your money.
I’m torn on whether it’d be good for more games to do this (mimic gambling without the predatory pricing associated with it) - on the one hand, it would provide alternatives to actual predatory games, like Gacha games, that won’t leave people poor, but on the other hand it also normalizes the concept as a legitimate gaming mechanic. This not only opens the door for more publishers to utilize the mechanic maliciously, but I also worry about what it might do to our brains to be constantly exposed to slot machine equivalents (moreso than they already are with gaming).
It’s amazing how addictive VS is without being predatory or manipulative. The feedback loop to play one more game is solid, in the best way.
So it’s just refreshing that Galante actually has principles enough to stay away from micro transactions. I hope we’re at the point where more developers move away from that - I feel like after the 2000s and 2010s, where game monetization went full nihilistic capitalism, we’re all ready for a change.
Nice read and very happy for Galante! He is clearly a fan of gaming who made something awesome for fans of gaming. It’s not exactly a game I got addicted to (played maybe 10 or 15 hours total?) but it truly is such a refreshing treat. If you haven’t tried it, give it a go. It’s super nostalgic and super easy to pick up immediately. Mostly, I’m excited to see what other things Galante and his team can do! But as long as they are happy continuing to make Vampire Survivors as good as they can, I’m happy for them.
yeah those tactics from fucking gambling industries really worked like the industries he came from.
how this barebones stock asset using trite got so popular is a genuine surprise, i palyed a couple of game and was bored out of my mind
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This is the best summary I could come up with:
Seeing a throng of passionate players flocking around his prototype, Galante’s peers eventually encouraged him to release the game on Valve’s Steam storefront – and that’s when Vampire Survivors exploded.
Thanks to a series of YouTubers raving about this exhilarating indie, the pandemic project suddenly topped the Steam Charts, with players racking up hundreds of in-game hours.
Despite teams of hundreds working on FromSoftware’s Elden Ring or PlayStation’s God of War Ragnarok, it is this endearingly pure, fun-first gameplay loop that saw Galante’s bedroom baby beat billion-dollar blockbusters to the Best Game Bafta.
Undoubtedly it will have irked developers at Sony Santa Monica and FromSoftware, who spent years crafting their intricate worlds and stories, to be beaten by a game that, by the admission of its own creator “literally makes no sense”.
“After working a few years in the gambling industry, I found out that I could be happy even without living my dream … with Vampire Survivors, I could clearly see its potential, and it just felt fun to make with no end goal in mind, so I just kept going.”
Now boasting an eye-watering 6m sales on Steam, an additional 3m downloads on mobile and with a Nintendo Switch version launching this month (17 August), Vampire Survivors has been a considerable moneymaker.
I’m a bot and I’m open source!
When I started playing VS, I was struck by how much the chest opening animation FELT like a slot machine - it was weird to encounter what normally feels like a predatory experience and have it NOT be trying to take your money.
I’m torn on whether it’d be good for more games to do this (mimic gambling without the predatory pricing associated with it) - on the one hand, it would provide alternatives to actual predatory games, like Gacha games, that won’t leave people poor, but on the other hand it also normalizes the concept as a legitimate gaming mechanic. This not only opens the door for more publishers to utilize the mechanic maliciously, but I also worry about what it might do to our brains to be constantly exposed to slot machine equivalents (moreso than they already are with gaming).
It’s amazing how addictive VS is without being predatory or manipulative. The feedback loop to play one more game is solid, in the best way.
So it’s just refreshing that Galante actually has principles enough to stay away from micro transactions. I hope we’re at the point where more developers move away from that - I feel like after the 2000s and 2010s, where game monetization went full nihilistic capitalism, we’re all ready for a change.
Objectively I think this game SHOULDN’T have worked in so many aspects. But it obviously does and it’s truly genre-defining.
Nice read and very happy for Galante! He is clearly a fan of gaming who made something awesome for fans of gaming. It’s not exactly a game I got addicted to (played maybe 10 or 15 hours total?) but it truly is such a refreshing treat. If you haven’t tried it, give it a go. It’s super nostalgic and super easy to pick up immediately. Mostly, I’m excited to see what other things Galante and his team can do! But as long as they are happy continuing to make Vampire Survivors as good as they can, I’m happy for them.
yeah those tactics from fucking gambling industries really worked like the industries he came from. how this barebones stock asset using trite got so popular is a genuine surprise, i palyed a couple of game and was bored out of my mind