V Rising is getting its next big update. After the first major update “Secrets of Gloomrot”, Update 1.1 “Invaders of Oakveil” takes you to lands full of dark magic featuring a nasty snake queen. The trailer showcases the new content.
What kind of game is this?
- In V Rising, you play as a vampire who has lost their powers and is now trying to regain their former strength.
- To do this, you obviously drain liters of blood to become stronger and collect special “V Blood” from powerful bosses to gain new abilities. You can also create servants.
- In terms of gameplay, V Rising, like many survival games, focuses on exploration, crafting, and building. However, the emphasis is on the action gameplay for which the developers at Stunlock Studios are known.
This is what the update contains: “Invaders of Oakveil” brings 3 new weapons, 7 new spells, and numerous new enemies into the game. You can explore new areas and fight the enemies that reside there to gain new abilities and try out skills. There are also two bosses involved.
However, the focus is on improvements to your castle. The most important new feature is the arena that you can build in your castle. There, you can hold tournaments with other players and create your own rules for duels, team fights, and more. The castle will also get:
- a stable for your horses
- a fusion forge to customize equipment
- a new prison for blood banks
- enhanced workshops and new decorations
The alchemy system is also getting an overhaul. You can, for example, enchant weapons and strengthen yourself with potions. In the official blog post about “Invaders of Oakveil”, you’ll find all the information. The update will be released on April 29 for Steam and PS5. The trailer shows the new content in action:
Still thousands of players monthly after 3 years
V Rising first launched in Early Access in May 2022 and attracted over 150,000 players at that time (via steamcharts). Over the years, the numbers have fluctuated, rising to several tens of thousands during major updates.
However, for several months now, the average player count has stabilized around 4,000, sometimes more, and it remains consistent. V Rising holds a rating of 87% on Steam, which is “very positive.”
Players praise the improvements made over the last years. Where the game may have been dull initially, 50 hours can now easily be spent. Especially the vampire style and the dark gothic aesthetic in the beautiful world are well received, as is the crafting, blood, and combat system.
Criticism mainly concerns the occasional resets of the official servers and that as a single player on these servers, there are few chances. However, there are private servers with their own rules. Even in 2025, V Rising is still among the best survival games for PC, Xbox, and PS5.
