Open world vampire survival game V Rising sounds fangtastic

Battlerite developers Stunlock Studios have come up with a different take on the online survival genre. In V Rising, every player is a vampire. You start with nothing but a mothball ridden cloak and a broken fang dangling from your mouth (I assume), and build up from there. Every neck gnawed is a step on the goal to building your own castle and crafting a Dracula-like legacy.

They’re really leaning into it. Between your grubby start and palace crafting, you’ll crawl around the world at night, hunting for blood and turning humans over to your own side. I assume they'll be NPCs, as will the other creatures of the night you get to fight. During the day, you’ll need to find cover, or you’ll burn. Intriguingly, you can play alone or with your own clan of other vamps. Can you imagine the carnage when your clan falls out with each other? I’m here for that absolute drama. So are the developers, as diplomacy or castle raids are both supported by the game.

The best part? Your castle is your base that you can fortify to keep other players at bay and a statement of your vampiric excellence. You get to craft coffins. Coffins!

As you can tell, V Rising has sort of sold me. Cooperatively slaying people then getting jealous over a neighbour’s crenellations is a dream I didn’t know I had, but now it’s all I’m thinking about. I don’t even remember my own name.

There’s no release date, but you can sign up for an upcoming beta at the game’s site.