Become the Bullet Hell: ‘Vampire Survivors VR’ Out Now on Meta Quest

It’s a funny thing about survival: One moment it’s just you, your whip, and a knife against a legion of demons, holding onto a sliver of health as you try to find respite from the hordes. The next moment, you’re hurling spinning scythes in every direction as lightning rains down on your enemies and you can barely see through the hail of holy fire that surrounds you on all sides. This is Vampire Survivors, the indie megahit that gripped the video game world with lo-fi-fury after its release in 2022. And now, Vampire Survivors VR brings the bloody mayhem home on Meta Quest.

The original Vampire Survivors was the sort of hit nobody saw coming. The setup is simple: You wander around a series of levels, dodging monsters as your weapons fire automatically out from your character. The graphics are heavily pixelated, but they get the point across. Then the upgrades come fast and hard, turning your meager starting weapons into monstrously powerful jets of fire and magic, annihilating the thousands of enemies that come your way. Even when survival is assured, you stay glued to the screen for one more upgrade, one more weapon, one more bonus.

This powerfully addictive experience has a way of sucking you in, no matter how big the screen you’re playing on, and that effect is only more powerful when you can dive in with Meta Quest and ride the lightning. Just be careful: That “one more upgrade” loop also has a way of making time disappear, so remember to stretch those legs every once in a while.

Vampire Survivors VR is available in the Meta Horizon Store for $9.99 USD. Buy it now and become the bullet hell. We caught up with Poncle Head of Marketing Jack Gosling to go a little deeper.

Jack Gosling: It’s been incredible to watch something that started as a fun game made to escape our day jobs turn into such a success. The more good survivors-likes we see emerge thanks to Vampire Survivors, the better!

JG: “This would work well with a Meta headset!” isn’t the first thing you’d think when playing Vampire Survivors. But the more time we put into the project, the more we realized what a fun twist on the original game it could be.

First-time players will get a true Vampire Survivors experience, and current VS fans should get a kick out of seeing familiar faces from a new perspective.

JG: We want players to feel like they’re always being rewarded for the time they’ve put into the game and excited to see what’s next.

JG: Vampire Survivors has changed a great deal since launch. VR players will be getting a far more robust version of the game than we had years ago. And a huge amount of content from outside the base game — including two of the game’s expansions — is included in one package for VR players.

JG: We’re working on a major project we can’t say anything about. But in the meantime, we’re also working on side projects, one of which will be revealed very soon. Keep a close eye on the Poncle social channels for an update on this in the coming weeks...