Vampire Survivors “Directer’s Cut” Seemingly Revealed in a Very Strange Way

Last year’s “reverse bullet hell” roguelike Vampire Survivors is apparently getting a Directer’s Cut, with gameplay of a build released by gaming accessibility advocate and author Laura Kate Dale yesterday.

At a press event focused on the new co-op mode to be added to the game later this month, Dale describes being pulled aside individually by a staff member for the event, telling her that they wanted to show her something. 20 minutes before the event’s end, she was allowed to demo a build of the Directer’s Cut, which had not previously been discussed outside of the development team whatsoever.

“And this guy goes… ‘I can’t tell you anything about this other than: Vampire Survivors: Directer’s Cut… this build contains things that may or may not eventually be playable by the public. I can’t tell you anything else,’” Dale said, describing her conversation with the staff. “The developer apparently just handed over this build and was like ‘do with it what you will.’ So I’m the only person from this press event who played this, I think?”

So far, her assessment that she’s the only one outside the developers to have played this build seems accurate, as nobody else has stepped forward to say that they have.

Dale has posted 25 minutes of gameplay total across two videos, and has shared impressions of the build’s content on Twitter. The e in the “Directer’s Cut” title is not a typo, but a reference to one of the game’s enemies, and in a similarly tongue-in-cheek move, the build is listed as version number 6.6.666. The build includes 10 new playable characters and numerous new stages with brief descriptions, including The Coop, which “up to 300 chickens can play together (local only – additional controllers required),” and Whiteout, whose flavor text may imply that the Directer’s Cut is planned for a 2023 release. Dale also found numerous new weapons and powers throughout her playtime, including Peshin Facha, which fires exploding fish at enemies.

This is a very odd situation, and Dale recalls checking and double-checking numerous times to ensure she wasn’t under an NDA and was allowed to be recording and releasing gameplay footage, which she was. The official Twitter account for the game even acknowledged her footage after it was released, but strangely without saying anything about the Directer’s Cut through their own channels. It is unknown whether the Directer’s Cut will be officially released, or if it does, how much of the content seen will be included in the final version. However, the original release of Vampire Survivors will be launching on Nintendo Switch alongside its co-op update on August 17.