Warhammer Survivors blends together Vampire Survivors with the Warhammer IP in a “Bullet Heaven from Hell” title. We attended their Digital Preview event for a first look at its gameplay and ties to the Warhammer universe.
Warhammer Survivors Brings Together Vampire Survivors, 40K, and Age of Sigmar in One Game
A Treat for Warhammer Fans
Developed and published through a collaborative effort between Auroch Digital (Warhammer 40K: Boltgun) and Poncle (Vampire Survivors), as well as Warhammer IP owner Games Workshop, Warhammer Survivors is an upcoming “survivaton” game that will feature elements from Warhammer 40K and Warhammer Age of Sigmar, all bundled with the “Bullet Heaven from Hell” gameplay the genre is known for.
A demo is now available to play on Steam ahead of its November 10th release, featuring two new playable characters: the Legend of Catachan from the 40K universe and Lyssa Revenya from Age of Sigmar. Interested fans and players can head to their official Steam page to give it a go.
Familiar Survivors Gameloop with a Warhammer Twist
Despite being incredibly similar to the original Vampire Survivors, Warhammer Survivors sets it apart by bringing not only one universe but two from the franchise. The Warhammer 40K universe and the Age of Sigmar universes have their own rosters of characters, weapons, stages, and more. While there will be some shared elements like cross-universe and passive items like real Warhammer hobby items that made it to the game, the content will more often be restricted to their worlds.
At the digital preview event, Producer Matt and Designer Matthew Pickering ran through two playthroughs for both the Warhammer 40k universe and the Age of Sigmar universe, playing as the Legend of Catachan and Realm Slayer Gotrek Gurnisson respectively. There, they showed sample gameplay and builds, as well as familiar enemies and terms, such as how the real-life Nuln Oil is turned into a versatile weapon that makes use of D6 dice to calculate damage dealt, Termagant and Troggath enemies, and more.
“A majority of our items are also named after various references to the tabletop hobby, such as the trusty tape measure, glue, the Golden Demon, and a bunch more,” the developers shared after the preview segment. With over 75 weapons, Relics, and Arcana cards to discover, there is no shortage of builds to create within the game and almost endless replayability.
Unique Features Such as Squad Mechanics and Status Effects
More unique mechanics, such as getting followers to make a squad, are also added in. In this case, weapons that can’t be used by the selected character instead recruit allies who can, allowing for players to have allies that fight alongside the main character. For example, in the gameplay segment featuring the 40K universe as the Legend of Catachan, the devs showed a Battle Sister joining into the fray. They cannot be directly controlled nor do they take damage or pick up items—they simply wield the unsupported weapons and add more firepower, expanding the champion’s area of effect (AoE).
There is a wide array of champions to use, but there are “several character combos which are especially impactful,” such as pairing close-ranged damage weapons such as Bastian Carthalos’ Uskavar the Sunderer with Lorai’s Aquatic Illusions that can draw enemies in with a status-inflicting aura. Trooper Kowzlowski’s Lasgun adds a new Guardsman follower every time it levels up, adding more and more to the champion’s numbers.
Within the realm of weapons, some weapons are also equipped with the ability to inflict extra elemental-type damage or status effects that can help chip away at tougher enemies or when there are large swarms. Some of these include familiar ones like Poisoned, Burning, Stunned, with the addition of Oiled (in relation to Nuln Oil) that makes enemies more prone to Burning, and Frenzied, similar to Berserk. Players will mostly encounter the negative and debilitating status effects, but there are positive ones as well, such as those that grant healing.
Paint Pot System for Characters
An interesting way that Warhammer Survivors lets players unlock characters is through the Warhammer Paint Pot system, which grants access to additional characters when the correct combination of colors has been found—a strong Easter egg and shoutout to the tabletop game.
Paint pots can be simply acquired across the game through various stages, or more likely, they are rewarded after meeting certain kill requirements, such as defeating thousands of enemies or taking down a specific opponent with a specific character. The Paint Pot system is shared through both universes in the game.
According to the developers, there will be over 40 characters to unlock at launch, which is a large number in itself—but with an IP like Warhammer, characters are a dime a dozen. They did not confirm yet whether or not more characters will surely be added in the future, but they have emphasized that while they are big fans of Games Workshops’ other games, they will be diving “deep into the Warhammer 40,000 and Age of Sigmar universes” at launch first before anything else.
Secrets and Collectibles For Each Universe
Warhammer Survivors also promises a lot of content and Easter eggs to discover as players progress through the game. There will be “plenty of secrets and surprises," with each universe having its own dedicated Secrets menu with cryptic clues to lead players to their discoveries.
Warhammer Survivors will be launching on November 10th, 2026 for Steam, GOG, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 1 and Switch 2, Android, and iOS devices, as well as a Day 1 Release on Xbox Game Pass. The game will retail for $7.99, but select platforms will have a pre-order and launch discount of 10%.
Pre-orders are now live for PlayStation 5 through the PlayStation Store and Nintendo Switch 1 and 2 through the eShop. Xbox Series X|S pre-orders will start on October 27th, 2026.
