Vampire Survivors 1.6 update introduces new game engine and couch co-op

The engrossing indie roguelike Vampire Survivors has received a major new update on Steam which adds four-player couch co-op to the game, allowing you to experience the chaos of fighting waves upon waves of night creatures alongside your friends.

Vampire Survivors version 1.6 rolled out on Steam last week (August 17, to be exact), and the local co-op feature allows, as you’d expect, up to four friends (or enemies) to take on the entire game together, including its DLC. In a post on Steam detailing the update, it was confirmed that developer Poncle is looking into the possibility of adding official online multiplayer, too, but for now, encourages players to use Steam Remote Play if they want to play with friends who live further away.

As well as adding couch co-op, version 1.6 has also switched Vampire Survivors over to an entirely new game engine. Poncle explained that the new engine will allow for “large features that were very difficult, or borderline impossible, to develop on the old one”, and in general, the game’s performance appears to be noticeably smoother on Steam Deck according to a video posted to Poncle’s YouTube channel. With that said, fans can still play on the old engine if they wish by using the password ‘PhaserVersion2023’, but this version won’t be receiving any further updates.

In case you missed it, Vampire Survivors is out now on Nintendo Switch, too - it launched with couch co-op, as well as all the other updates that Steam users have grown accustomed to. While a cross-save option isn’t currently available, Poncle stated that it's currently being worked on, but it will need “a lot of testing and an adequate amount of time in the oven to be released in a safe, fully working state”. 

Excitingly, Poncle teased that “there's a lot happening behind the scenes”, and revealed that focus will now be put on “a large feature that has been taking shape since December 2022”. This feature will apparently be announced in the coming weeks.

For more indie gems, be sure to check out our list of the best indie games. If you’re after a new game similar to Vampire Survivors, you can also take a look at our selection of the best roguelike games.

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