Palworld might be the survival game of the moment, but it's not available on PS5. Thankfully, however, V Rising is on the way to help fill Sony's survival-shaped hole.
During last night's PlayStation State of Play, Sony announced that vampiric survival game V Rising is on its way to PS5 later this year. Originally released in 2022 by the studio behind one-time MOBA hit Battlerite, V Rising was the first game to really follow in Valheim's early access survival game footsteps, selling three million copies in its first 18 months.
Casting players as a newly-awakened vampire, V Rising tasked them with regaining their strength. To do that, you'd build an appropriately gothic base, and take on enemies thanks to a suit of vampiric powers shaped by developer Stunlock's previous games. With both solo and co-op offerings, V Rising really dug into its bloodsucking USP thanks to its day-night cycle, whereby players would take damage if they were out in the sun for too long.
Thematically, it's not much like Palworld, but there are similarities if you know where to look. World bosses similar to Palworld's roaming challenges, mounts to let you move faster around the world, base building that's optimized around predefined real estate, and even a basic system of capturing thralls to have them work around your castle are all reminiscent of Palworld. Some of those tools are closer to being survival game staples than others, of course, and I'm not suggesting that Sony has picked up V Rising simply as an answer to Palworld, but for a console that's missed out on some major examples of the genre in recent years, it's a useful acquisition.
Interesting, this partnership could also point to a 1.0 release for V Rising. Still in early access since its launch in May 2022, the game is coming up on two years without a full launch. Stunlock has said it doesn't intend to be in early access any longer than it needs to be, and given the relative difficulties of patching a console release compared to PC (which the Palworld devs have also commented on), it wouldn't be surprising if V Rising 1.0 is also set for a release this year.
It's a rich seam, so here's our list of the best survival games.
