Following the incredible success of Vampire Survivors, it was only a matter of time until other studios adopted the game’s auto-shooter/bullet heaven gameplay loop as well. It may be surprising, though, that one of them would be Deep Rock Galactic: Survivors, which is launching soon.
As one of the most-played Steam Next Fest demos of October 2023, Deep Rock Galactic: Survivors has already proven that there’s merit in adapting the franchise’s trademark dwarven mining action into an entirely different genre. Now, Ghost Ship Games has announced that DRG: Survivors will be released into Early Access on February 14, kicking off its own production cycle proper.
Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor launches in Early Access on February 14
Deep Rock Galactic is, of course, extremely popular in its own right: a first-person shooter focusing on the sci-fi dwarves’ questionable procurement of exotic minerals, it too started its lifecycle as an Early Access title. One update after another, the developer Ghost Ship Games has managed to build an empire out of its rock-mining FPS, to the point that the studio kickstarted its own game publishing arm as well.
With that in mind, Deep Rock Galactic: Survivors is not being developed by Ghost Ship Games, but by Funday Games, a relatively unknown studio with not many titles yet under its belt. Funday’s only published game so far is Don’t Die In The West 🤠(smiley face included, yes), an “open-world cowboy-life RPG for 1-4 players,” which has generally positive reviews on Steam, but it didn’t break into the mainstream gaming consciousness.
Irrespective of the studio’s prior work, DRG: Survivors has already shown that it’s got what it takes to succeed during the Next Fest. Further, the game’s genre lends itself phenomenally well to short gameplay sessions. This, combined with the Deep Rock Galactic IP, suggests that there could be big things ahead both for the game and for Funday Games. Provided, of course, that the project pans out in the end.
