Yet Another Zombie Survivors Dev Traces the Game Back to Vampire Survivors
The developer's own account credits Vampire Survivors, not the zombie theme, as the system that shaped the game, which is a rare case of an indie team naming the specific influence behind its genre turn rather than framing it as original design.
Reporting from 1 source: Game Spark.
Awesome Games Studio developer Mariusz says the zombie survival action game began as a prototype for a Yet Another Zombie Defense sequel, until playing Vampire Survivors pushed the team toward a different system. After a few weeks of prototyping, they settled on a version that pairs dark 3D graphics with a multi-character team. The game launched August 20 for PC, PS5, PS4, and Xbox Series X|S with Japanese support.
Yet Another Zombie Survivors arrived on August 20 for PC, PS5, PS4, and Xbox Series X|S, with Japanese language support and a discount that runs until October 9. The team behind it did not set out to build a survivors game at all. The starting point was a sequel prototype to Yet Another Zombie Defense, and the pivot came after the developer played Vampire Survivors to understand its draw. Weeks of prototyping followed. What the team kept was the horde-clearing loop and a team-building system that lets players pick several characters, a combination the developer describes as the game's distinguishing feature.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.