Vampire Survivors Studio poncle to Publish Indie Games, Says No to AI and Web3

Vampire Survivors developer, poncle, has announced a new publishing division that will not accept AI or web3 developments.

Vampire Survivors developer poncle was in attendance at Game Republic’s Pitching to Investors and Publishers event in Liverpool this week, and they’ve announced that they are opening a new publishing division of their business GamesIndustry reports . The new publishing arm will offer developers funding, quality assurance, platform support, localization help, and development advice to aspiring developers who build games with “sincerity, passion, and depth.” poncle says they would not like to operate as a “traditional publisher” and will offer help towards Indie game development that promotes “replayable, affordable, and fun” games.

One of the more striking details from Poncle’s new announcement is the developer’s commitment to not supporting web3 or AI-developed content. Other declined options include anything “survivor-related” and free-to-play mobile games. Poncle is echoing the sentiments expressed by legendary Nintendo developer Shigeru Miyamoto, who, in a recent interview with The New York Times , said: “There is a lot of talk about AI, for example. When that happens, everyone starts to go in the same direction, but that is where Nintendo would rather go in a different direction.”

This is directly the opposite of what EA CEO Andrew Wilson said last week when he referred to AI as “the very core of our business” in its Investor Day 2024 livestream . Wilson went on to say “We predict that with generative AI we will truly be able to fulfil this promise for billions of people for billions and billions of hours” and AI allows the company to do “what we do today faster, cheaper, and at a higher quality”.

Vampire Survivors and poncle have recently inked a deal that would bring the popular bullet-hell title to screens in an animated show format from the John Wick studio.