Vampire Survivors is getting a surprise free update with gameshow flair

At the 2023 PC Gaming Show, Vampire Survivors developer Poncle announced the hit bullet heaven's 1.5 update, complete with a fresh map, character variation, and chaotic new pickup. Patch 1.5 of Vampire Survivors is set to go live tomorrow, June 12.

The latest map, "Astral Stair," will feature "seemingly endless corridors, flying paintings, and a gameshow-like spinning wheel that triggers random events." I'm curious to see how that gameshow wheel shakes up Vampire Survivors' already chaotic pace of play, and what's more, the new feature's not limited to Astral Stair⁠—it can be activated on any map thanks to the new "Trisection" relic, opening up new frontiers in pixel-popping on screen chaos reminiscent of Vampire Survivors' chaotic viewer voting Twitch streaming mode.

Patch 1.5 will also bring in a funky change for pre-existing character Yatta Cavallo, a cheeky, bomb-throwing bear. "Morph character Yatta Cavallo into their new form! This will also evolve their ability Cherry Bomb into a new attack." God only knows what unspeakable evolution poncle has in store for Yatta and their little cherry bomb courtesy of the new relic, "Chaos Rosalia."

The last major change 1.5 has in store is the GoldFinger, a new pickup that makes you invincible and supercharged for a short amount of time. The more enemies you kill, the higher the uh, I guess "finger rank" you earn. Do you have what it takes to achieve the coveted "CosmicFinger?" Do I?

Whatever the case, the $5 game that took our hobby by storm in late 2022 shows no signs of slowing down between free updates like this and paid DLC like the recent Tides of the Foscari add-on. Be sure to check out Vampire Survivors' 1.5 update and its various fingers, cosmic or otherwise, when it goes live tomorrow.

Associate Editor

Ted has been thinking about PC games and bothering anyone who would listen with his thoughts on them ever since he booted up his sister's copy of Neverwinter Nights on the family computer. He is obsessed with all things CRPG and CRPG-adjacent, but has also covered esports, modding, and rare game collecting. When he's not playing or writing about games, you can find Ted lifting weights on his back porch.

Read more
An elderly bearded man in medieval garb making a face after eating garlic
'Please remember the game has no plot': Vampire Survivors dev points out one of the many challenges in turning its roguelike into a live-action film
no more room in hell 2
No More Room in Hell 2's 'biggest update yet' introduces weapon attachments, new level scenarios, and ensures players no longer spawn 'without a body'
Three hyper light breaker characters running toward camera viewed from below.
A month into early access, Hyper Light Breaker has already added a new playable character, with a perk designed for players who like to 'shoot fast and shoot a lot'
Hunt: Showdown Post Malone's Circus
Hunt: Showdown's weirdest-ever update has just landed
Ultrakill
The mad lads at New Blood have remastered Ultrakill before actually releasing Ultrakill in the first place
Three heroes stand against a tide of skeletons
The Hand of Fate devs are back with a bullet heaven called Hordes of Fate
Latest in Roguelike
Three heroes stand against a tide of skeletons
The Hand of Fate devs are back with a bullet heaven called Hordes of Fate
An angry dwarf and a sword-wielding elf with various villains in the background in Absolum.
This mash-up of side-scrolling beat-'em-up and fantasy roguelike feels like it could be the future of a classic genre
Three adventurers readying for battle in Knights in Tight Spaces.
Knights in Tight Spaces review
Facing an enemy in No-Skin
No-Skin is an incredibly simple horror roguelike about the worst party ever, full of strong booze, bad conversation and eldritch violence
A mountain block dropping into place in Drop Duchy.
Drop Duchy is an unholy fusion of city builder, roguelike deckbuilder, and Tetris, and you can try it for free right now
A robot destroying the opposing castle with its laser eyes in Castle V Castle.
You've got to try these 5 brilliant free roguelike deckbuilder game demos before Steam NextFest ends on March 3
Latest in News
A World of Warcraft dwarf and human character standing in front of the entrance to a delve dungeon
WoW's nerfed its poor Delve companion into a dwarf-shaped crater after his tank spec made them too easy, and people aren't happy
One of Repo's player characters, resembling a yellow pedal bin with googly eyes, encounters a skeletal, open mouthed face with glowing yellow eyes.
After REPO 'kinda blew up', its developer asks the community for advice on how to make matchmaking lobbies
Microsoft Windows 11
The latest Windows 11 dev build gives you the ability to snap together commonly paired apps for access in a single click, and I'm already sold
Monster Hunter Wilds - a player yells in despair with their arms out, kneeling on the ground.
Some Monster Hunter Wilds players are skipping the endgame weapon grind because they just freaking hate how they look
Inside
Limbo and Inside studio demands compensation from co-founder Dino Patti for alleged 'unauthorized use of Playdead's trademarks and copyrighted works'
Key art of Kent Paul in Grand Theft Auto Vice City.
'My own voice was driving me f***ing insane': GTA Vice City actor admits even he couldn't get past his own, notoriously difficult mission