Warhammer Survivors preview - “A grimdark but not grim spin on the Survivors-like”

• Warhammer Survivors' mix of the hit Warhammer franchise and Vampire Survivors arrives November
• But what's it actually like in practice? We got to see an exclusive digital preview
• From rockin' soundtrack to standalone gameplay, it puts an impressive Warhammer spin on the format

While my weekend was focused on RuneFest 2026, there's been another big release on my mind, which is the upcoming bullet heaven Warhammer Survivors! We had the chance to sit down and watch Warhammer Survivors in action when the folks at Auroch Digital invited me to a digital preview to see what the game was like. So how actually was it? Well, let's find out.

If you haven't heard of it before, Warhammer Survivors takes the worlds of Warhammer 40,000 and Age of Sigmar and translates them to a Vampire Survivors-style roguelike format. In it, you play your favourite characters from the worlds of, uh, Warhammer 40K and Age of Sigmar, and equip the same kind of crazy weaponry that you upgrade over time in order to take out your enemies in increasingly flashy ways.

Survival Instinct

The best thing that I can say about Warhammer Survivors is that it does a great job of translating what made Vampire Survivors shine into a brand new universe. The Survivors-like genre has become an increasingly popular one for other developers to put a twist on, but I think translating it to the world of Warhammer with its massive battles and indiscriminate slaughter of countless mooks is a great way to recreate the massive hordes of Vampire Survivors.

Warhammer, both 40,000 and Age of Sigmar, also have a suite of characters to draw on. You'll find plenty of recognisable faces, from Nieve Blacktalon to Commissar Yarrick. Not to mention both recognisable weaponry such as bolters or crossbows from throughout the Warhammer universes, but also some more self referential stuff such as bottles of the ever-useful Nuln Oil.

Warhammer Survivors' soundtrack was also a standout as it follows the lead of many newer Warhammer spinoffs nowadays by breaking from a rather samey mix of chanting and orchestra music, instead adding a bit of a retro throwback synth-rock vibe to everything. Considering one of the more overlooked strengths of Vampire Survivors is its soundtrack, this is one element I’m glad to see carried into Warhammer Survivors.

The characters, enemies and terrain themselves are obviously based on the real-world miniatures and characters, but they're all rendered in familiar Poncle style. Admittedly, all the more neutral colours can kind of blend together in some scenes, but there are more vibrant characters, especially when you're fighting the Orcs and Tyranids, with the greens, purples, and whites.

Warhammer Survivors also puts some interesting spins on its enemies and how they act as well, where different factions have different keywords, and traits, associated with them, meaning that you'll have to cope with possible damage resistances and actively tailor your bill towards that instead of relying on the same number of weapons. Speaking of weapons though, you might be wondering exactly how they handle something like a simple Guardsman wielding weapons made for a Space Marine.

If you pick up a weapon that's not intended for the character that you're playing, it’ll instead summon a character who can wield them, and they will join your party. These characters will launch the weapon themselves, meaning you’ll need to angle your growing group properly, but in return they can’t be damaged. It's an interesting way to introduce more characters and also increase the scale to be a little bit more like the miniatures game on tabletop.

One of the big shifts that I feel will be a bit more divisive is the fact that Warhammer Survivors uses more of a traditional level structure, where you'll fight through hordes of enemies, and then eventually reach a single boss at the end, rather than working towards a simple time limit. However, much like the arrival of Death in Vampire Survivors, you'll still need to have a special item to actually challenge the bosses, otherwise they'll just simply wipe the floor with you. So you will need to plan, strategise and explore the level, or simply upgrade and try again in a new run.

Is Warhammer Survivors one to watch?

Now, I may be a bit biased, considering I'm a fan of both Warhammer and Vampire Survivors, but I really do think that Warhammer Survivors will be one to watch. It's a great way of combining both the expertise of Poncle in the genre they helped codify, and Auroch Digital's previous work on a lot of Warhammer properties into an interesting spin on the genre.

On the other hand, if you're a bit of a purist about the Vampire Survivors format, then you may find the fact that it shifts to more of a level-based structure a little bit difficult to swallow. But I think that helps it stand out from the original Vampire Survivors and also means that you can explore far more maps and offer more twists and turns for the player to deal with.

Both the graphics and the soundtrack are things that I think people who are new to either the Warhammer universe or Survivors-like genre will both enjoy. And crucially, the gameplay seems to keep the rapidly growing upgrades, flashy attacks and generally ludicrous scale that made Vampire Survivors so much fun to play.

So keep your eyes peeled for the release of Warhammer Survivors on November 10th. And while you're here, why not check out our list of the best mobile games like Vampire Survivors for some other great spins on a genre that you can play right now on your smartphone?