"Vampire Survivor" developer talks about the ideal of "supporting it after release"

　　Mr. Luca Galante, a developer of poncle, which is famous for "Vampire Survivors", talked about the role the publisher should play in an interview with the overseas media GamesRadar+. He said, "Because the game has fans, it should continue to support it after release."

　　Pontcle not only develops its own games but also engages in distribution business. Mr. Galante initially started as an individual developer. Currently, poncle has more than 25 employees. The developer is known for its official release of "Vampire Survivor" in October 2022.

　The company announced the establishment of an issuance department in September 2024. Its policy is not to pursue intellectual property (IP) like "traditional publishers", but to enable more people to make their own games.

As the poncle distribution department "poncle presents", the turn-based Roguelike brick-type game "Kill the Brickman" developed by Doonutsaur and the fierce keyboard action game "Berserk or Die" developed by Nao Games has been released.

　　Publisher's Ideal:

　　In an interview with overseas media GamesRadar+ about publishers, Mr. Galante said straight to the point that "there are many incompetent publishers." He continued, “I’ve seen many publishers who exploit platforms for the sake of making money” and criticized these publishers for leading to the emergence of “first-hand experience games that can never be completed” and “games that have been abandoned after release”.

　　So, he believes that the publisher’s primary task is to “make real games”, and it should also be understood that “not all works will become popular.” Based on this, he emphasized that "continuous support after the game is released is very important" and said that "once the game is released, it will inevitably have fans, and no matter the size of the fans, it should be treated fairly."

　　On the other hand, he also admitted that this idea is "maybe a bit idealistic", but he regards publishers as not just commercial institutions, but rather as an existence aimed at making games and satisfying developers and players.