Vampire Survivors’ new Castlevania DLC brings the hit roguelike full circle

Vampire Survivors comes full circle on Halloween, when characters from the Castlevania series will join the roster of the roguelike. Developer Poncle announced Monday that its Ode to Castlevania DLC will bring more than 20 new playable Castlevania characters and maybe — just maybe — an actual vampire to Vampire Survivors for the first time.

The list of new playable survivors includes familiar Castlevania characters like Simon, Richter, and Trevor Belmont; Sypha and Yoko Belnades; half-vampire Alucard; and even some deeper cuts. Poncle is pitching Vampire Survivors: Ode to Castlevania as an “everyone is here” affair, so it’s likely that your favorite Castlevania hero or heroine will appear.

Vampire Survivors: Ode to Castlevania will also include more than 40 new weapons, 30 new music tracks, and “the largest map Vampire Survivors has ever seen,” according to Poncle. Plus, the developer teased, Ode to Castlevania will include “a man” — meaning a pile of secrets. Expect a lavish love letter to all things Castlevania.

Ode to Castlevania will be released on Oct. 31 for the Android, iOS, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X. The DLC costs $3.99.

Poncle and Konami’s collaboration is a long-awaited leveling up for Vampire Survivors, which started its life in 2021 as part (blatant) homage to the Castlevania series. Vampire Survivors developer Luca Galante used a set of Castlevania-inspired, off-the-shelf sprites to help glam up his game, which was still in a rudimentary state at the time. Since then, Poncle has added dozens of new characters, including marquee collaborations with Among Us and Konami’s Contra series.

The addition of beloved characters, enemies, weapons, and spells from Konami’s venerable action franchise will certainly give Vampire Survivors an even stronger Castlevania feel. Many of the new character sprites, some of which are very close to their original Vampire Survivors counterparts, are considerably nicer more detailed and well-animated than some of Poncle’s previous attempts.

Konami has been actively licensing out its Castlevania series over the past few years. In addition to multiple popular Netflix animated series, Castlevania characters have appeared in games like Dead Cells, V Rising, and Dead by Daylight. Konami hasn’t released a brand-new game in the franchise for more than a decade; the most recent entry was 2014’s so-so Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2. However, Konami and developer M2 recently released the Castlevania: Dominus Collection, which includes a new (and surprisingly good) remake of 1988 arcade game Haunted Castle.