Vital Shell

Released: Jan 7, 2026
Platforms
Last updated: 13 Sep 2026, 04:58 GMT

Updates & announcements

20 posts

10 Sep 2026Developer post
Vital Shell for PC CD-ROM
Howdy All, For any physical media enthusiast out there, Vital Shell PC CD-ROM is now available for pre-order. I had the opportunity to do the physical distribution and thought it would be in the spirit of the game, and just something nice to have on the shelf. Vital Shell - PC (P
10 Jul 2026Developer post
1.2.0.5 - Improved Workshop Support
Howdy all, I've had to spend a few weeks away from the computer this Summer, but I'm finally back with some small workshop related fixes. Fixed a crash when adding workshop items to endless mode loadouts then loading the game with the mod disabled Fixed a bug where selecting Attu
Howdy all,
I've had to spend a few weeks away from the computer this Summer, but I'm finally back with some small workshop related fixes.

Fixed a crash when adding workshop items to endless mode loadouts then loading the game with the mod disabled
Fixed a bug where selecting Attunement, then backing out before committing to an element resulted in a phantom mod being added to your equip panel
All containers for weapons/gems/protocols on the loadout builder and manual now support scrolling
Really excited to see some more mods showing up, appreciate everyone playing and contributing.
Thanks,
Your Friend,
Marvin Wizard
Original post
05 Jun 2026Developer post
V 1.2.0.3
Small fixes to modding/mod database loading. Also updated MarvinsExample in workshop to make sure the added items were unlocked by default. Adjusted the native Linux build for better compatibility with older devices. Thanks everyone!
01 Jun 2026Developer post
V 1.2.0.2
Howdy all, Few small enhancements/bufixes here: Improved save file handling to prevent memory_card.res corruption Prevent a crash when memory_card.res is corrupted (falls back to backup or creates a fresh save) Fixed a bug where pressing escape or B on P2's shop would cause a sta
Howdy all,
Few small enhancements/bufixes here:

Improved save file handling to prevent memory_card.res corruption
Prevent a crash when memory_card.res is corrupted (falls back to backup or creates a fresh save)
Fixed a bug where pressing escape or B on P2's shop would cause a state desync
Adjusted the multiplayer camera to account for camera angle and improve visibility at the bottom of the screen
Every once in a while I would see folks hitting memory card corruption issues if the game crashed while saving. I now have a flow that creates a backup and a temp save before overwriting the actual cloud sync'd save file. Additionally, when the game starts up I prevent crashing on reading the corrupt file and fall back to a backup if available.
I made some adjustments to the camera positioning to account for the camera angle and improve the centering/visibility as well as starting to zoom out a bit earlier as player's separate from each other.
Keep the bug reports coming, thanks to everyone who is still playing and who checked out local co-op. Appreciate you all.
Your friend,
Marvin Wizard
Original post
29 May 2026Developer post
V 1.2.0.0 Local Co-op & Steam Workshop
Howdy All, Big patch here! This adds 2 player local co-op as well as Steam Workshop support for modding. I'm working on some public documentation for modding, but please reach out on the Discord modding channel in the interim. In additional to local co-op I've brought in some new
26 May 2026Developer post
1.1.0.10
Small but important ones here, apologies for the patch spam. Overall things are looking stable given how much had to slide around for mods/co-op. Thanks all! Fixed a bug where the Nova achievement wasn't correctly being tracked Fixed a bug where pausing and unpausing during the "
Small but important ones here, apologies for the patch spam. Overall things are looking stable given how much had to slide around for mods/co-op. Thanks all!

Fixed a bug where the Nova achievement wasn't correctly being tracked
Fixed a bug where pausing and unpausing during the "WAVE COMPLETE" message would start the timer prematurely in Arcade mode.
Original post
24 May 2026Developer post
Hotfix 1.1.0.9
Apologies for this one, a nasty bug. Fixes a bug where certain achievements and unlocks weren't being tracked properly. Additionally, all steam achievements are now localized and the game now has a Chinese title & logo. Thanks all, Marvin Wizard
22 May 2026Developer post
Patch 1.1.0.8 - Reroll Update
Howdy All, Big patch under the hood here. This has all of the infrastructure changes required for local co-op and modding. I just have a bit more QA to do before it goes live. Aside from that, there is a major update to how reroll gems work. They are now permanent, but their drop
11 Apr 2026Developer post
1.1.0.7 - OpenGL improvements, Simplified Chinese fix
Howdy Everyone, Long time no patch. This is a small but important one, it fixes OpenGL for players on integrated graphics and hopefully makes the game a bit more accessible for low end systems. I also fixed an issue with the font used for simplified Chinese where the character 回
27 Feb 2026Developer post
1.1.0.6 - Small Fixes
Howdy All, It's been 2 weeks since the last update, feels like a crime. Wanted to get a small one out with some important fixes. Russian localization improvements for clarity around unlock criteria Fixed a bug where firing many projectiles could cause some periodic flashing on th
Howdy All,
It's been 2 weeks since the last update, feels like a crime.
Wanted to get a small one out with some important fixes.

Russian localization improvements for clarity around unlock criteria
Fixed a bug where firing many projectiles could cause some periodic flashing on the screen
Fixed a bug where the sword audio on Koenig would not fully mute when SFX were set to 0
Continued performance improvements
I've been playing lots of games, getting my inspiration up to start working on the successor to Vital Shell. Also getting the foundation in place to support local co-op.
Keep me posted if you see anything funny. Stoked to see folks still hitting the leaderboards and enjoying the weekly challenges.
Thanks everyone,
Your friend,
Marvin Wizard
Original post
13 Feb 2026Developer post
V 1.1.0.4 Localization - Demo Update - Bundles and More
Howdy All, Couple things to cover here. You may have noticed a few bundles on the Steam page now. Vampire Survivors was of course a large influence on the game, so it is really awesome to have them bundled with Vital Shell. And then BRAZILIAN DRUG DEALER 3: I OPENED A PORTAL TO H
Howdy All,

Couple things to cover here.

You may have noticed a few bundles on the Steam page now. Vampire Survivors was of course a large influence on the game, so it is really awesome to have them bundled with Vital Shell. And then BRAZILIAN DRUG DEALER 3: I OPENED A PORTAL TO HELL IN THE FAVELA TRYING TO REVIVE MIT AIA I NEED TO CLOSE IT, another game harking back to times passed in a way that feels sincere, is definitely worth checking out.
Another exciting addition is Community Items are now live. Finally got everything approved, hope you all enjoy the trading card art and backgrounds.
I pushed an update to the Demo (disc), there were enough fixes and accessibility improvements that I thought it would be nice to bring that all to demo players.
In game fixes/improvements:
Português (Portugal) localization
Fixed an issue where new shader materials were being initialized for every bird, should prevent Descriptors Heap Allocation errors when running the game on direct X, particularly with many birds on screen
Made some mesh & material optimizations to player projectiles to reduce draw calls, should bring performance improvements to low end systems and improve the intermittent flickering issues some players were having
Keep me posted on any projectile funny business!

Outside of any major crashes or issues, I'll probably take a little bit of a breather and play some games myself. Need to build up energy and inspiration to start the next game! Local co-op is still the next major feature priority for Vital Shell though, definitely not going to stop supporting the game.

Thanks Everyone,
Your Friend,
Marvin Wizard
Original post
07 Feb 2026Developer post
Expanded Gamepad Support & Localizations - V 1.1.0.3
Howdy all, Scary patch here, moving to my own fork of Godot. Fixed a bug where repeatedly hitting B or escape would close the boss cutscene player and break pause functionality Fixed various places where text was not localized Normalized dithering, should no longer look chunky on
Howdy all,
Scary patch here, moving to my own fork of Godot.

Fixed a bug where repeatedly hitting B or escape would close the boss cutscene player and break pause functionality
Fixed various places where text was not localized
Normalized dithering, should no longer look chunky on small screens or washed out on large displays
Add German & Turkish Localization
Fix a variety of crashes and input map problems with various controllers (Victrix controllers now supported)
I've been deep in a hole this week trying to backport SDL3 Gamepad support to Godot 4.4. Unfortunately some other changes to viewport scaling preclude me from fully updating to 4.5/4.6.
This should resolve all of the issues players with Victrix controllers were having with the game not launching, crashing, or having incorrect input maps. Please keep me posted on any controller issues you may face and let me know if your Victrix (or any brand for that matter) controllers are now working with the game.
Thanks everyone,
Marvin Wizard
Original post
02 Feb 2026Developer post
Hotfix V 1.1.0.2
Apologies for the patch spam, fixed a game breaking bug with this week's challenge modifier. Fixed a bug where Blood Pact was inflicting damage while the game was paused Fixed a bug where certain USB audio devices were losing all sound after entering the main menu Thanks all, Mar
Apologies for the patch spam, fixed a game breaking bug with this week's challenge modifier.

Fixed a bug where Blood Pact was inflicting damage while the game was paused
Fixed a bug where certain USB audio devices were losing all sound after entering the main menu
Thanks all,
Marvin Wizard
Original post
01 Feb 2026Developer post
V 1.1.0.1
Few quick follow-ups to yesterday's patch. Added Italiano localization Removed a debug setting that was left in options The border is actually black now in full screen Thanks all, Marvin Wizard
Few quick follow-ups to yesterday's patch.

Added Italiano localization
Removed a debug setting that was left in options
The border is actually black now in full screen
Thanks all,
Marvin Wizard
Original post
31 Jan 2026Developer post
Arcade Mode Update V 1.1.0.0
Howdy Everyone, I've been grinding this past week and some change on some new game modes. I have updated challenge mode, which is now more broadly Arcade Mode. It features 3 game types: Classic - Challenge mode as you know it today Weekly Challenge - Classic mode locked to a spec
Howdy Everyone,

I've been grinding this past week and some change on some new game modes. I have updated challenge mode, which is now more broadly Arcade Mode. It features 3 game types:

Classic - Challenge mode as you know it today
Weekly Challenge - Classic mode locked to a specific shell with 3 random modifiers applied, new shell and modifiers with every weekly reset
Arena - A game mode for experimentation and build-craft, allows you to create a loadout and battle against an endless infinitely scaling wave

Achievements are still turned on for Classic and Weekly Challenge, however they are disabled for Arena mode, as you can bring in whatever weapons and stats you want. You still earn experience for your devotion in all modes.

A few important bug fixes and updates as well
Fixed some tearing problems on the floor of Molten Core
Fixed a bug where equipping special weapons did not contribute to Treasure Hunter totals
Changed the border of the game window to black (Prevent OLED ghosting)
Critical Strike floating text now appears in yellow and will always be rendered on top of other damage types
Hope you enjoy the new modes, I'm sure there will be lots of tuning and tweaking to the weekly modifiers as the different combinations get played.

The Arena mode isn't built to be a pure endless mode as it is more of a place to test out synergies and experiment. Ultimately the game has discreet equipment slots, rather than infinitely stacking upgrades, so it's not as conducive to a true endless mode.

See you all on the leaderboards, thanks as always for keeping the great feedback coming.

Your Friend,
Marvin Wizard
Original post
25 Jan 2026Developer post
V 1.0.1.5
Howdy everyone, Wanted to get a few QOL changes plus a Burn buff in before I lose power from this snowstorm. Burn damage is now distributed across 3 ticks instead of 4 Burn damage tick speed has been increased The detail page for Volatile Shell now lists all bonuses granted, acce
Howdy everyone,

Wanted to get a few QOL changes plus a Burn buff in before I lose power from this snowstorm.
Burn damage is now distributed across 3 ticks instead of 4
Burn damage tick speed has been increased
The detail page for Volatile Shell now lists all bonuses granted, accessed by clicking the protocol on the equipment panel
Treasure Hunter now additionally awards a free reroll in Battle mode, having Treasure Hunter III adds 3 free rerolls to every run (Challenge mode is still locked at 10 rerolls)
Added a restart button to the pause menu
Hope the Burn changes (as well as the free rerolls) makes the Conflagration unlock feel a bit more consistent.

Thanks all,
Marvin Wizard
Original post
24 Jan 2026Developer post
V 1.0.1.4 - Reroll Gem Debt
Quick fix for a bug that allowed you to go into reroll gem debt. Your debt will be forgiven once you enter a shop. Sorry about that! Marvin Wizard
23 Jan 2026Developer post
V 1.0.1.3
Howdy all, Couple updates for the weekend. Update Localization for Blood Temple, Missile Circus, and Spirit Bomb unlocks to use the language "as Meteor/Bloodfang/Sidewinder" to better clarify the unlocks must be performed playing as the respective shell Alt + Enter now toggles be
Howdy all,
Couple updates for the weekend.

Update Localization for Blood Temple, Missile Circus, and Spirit Bomb unlocks to use the language "as Meteor/Bloodfang/Sidewinder" to better clarify the unlocks must be performed playing as the respective shell
Alt + Enter now toggles between windowed and full screen mode
The game now launches full screen to help improve launch window behavior; there should no longer be a draggable boot splash window
Fixed a bug where missiles would get stuck outside of collision range and follow enemies without exploding
Sidewinder's pets now take on Shell customization colors
I've been trying to figure out this Godot problem with the window opening into the corner. I did some research and found other games on Godot 4 have the same issue, which makes me fear it may be precarious to fully fix. I've updated the game to launch into full screen by default as well as added the ability to toggle between full screen and windowed with Alt + Enter. I'm hoping the combination of these two things will help with the windowing issues. Let me know how this is working.
After fixing the Burn issues (applying to deactivated enemies/spawning burning) it looks like Burn damage may be lagging, I'm watching this closely and will likely make some adjustments there.
Thanks as always,
Your friend,
Marvin Wizard
Original post
21 Jan 2026Developer post
V 1.0.1.2 - Class Leaderboards
Morning everyone, I wrapped up class leaderboards last night and wanted to get this out. Reduced the file size of the game icon which may prevent launch window issues on Windows Added additional leaderboards for each Shell, these aren't backfilled so will require new runs to popu
Morning everyone,
I wrapped up class leaderboards last night and wanted to get this out.

Reduced the file size of the game icon which may prevent launch window issues on Windows
Added additional leaderboards for each Shell, these aren't backfilled so will require new runs to populate
Very curious to see how the times shake out across each Shell.
Thanks as always,
Marvin Wizard
Original post
20 Jan 2026Developer post
V 1.0.1.1
Couple small fixes this morning plus an initial pass over Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, and Korean localizations. These need to be QA'd by the translators, so I will hold off on adding the languages to the Steam page until they are considered finalized. Fixed a bug whe
Couple small fixes this morning plus an initial pass over Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, and Korean localizations. These need to be QA'd by the translators, so I will hold off on adding the languages to the Steam page until they are considered finalized.

Fixed a bug where the Koenig achievement wasn't triggering if you've played the demo, should now trigger upon entering a level as Koenig
Increased the visibility of Static Field
Added Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, and Korean as available languages
Original post