Moonlighter studio shrinks ReVamp playtest over clone fears

Digital Sun, the studio behind Moonlighter, has scaled back the first playtest for its next game, ReVamp. In a post on the game’s Steam news page, the team said the test will now take place on its Discord server rather than through the Steam sign-up that a large number of players had already joined.

Why the plan changed

Digital Sun pointed to recent reports of games being reverse-engineered, copied and put on sale before the original had even launched. With ReVamp’s release still several months off, the studio decided that giving a build to tens of thousands of testers was too great a risk.

The studio also said it would like platforms to keep improving protections for original work, so that teams of any size can continue showing their games to players early. In its words, showing games early is how indie titles get seen and build a following.

What happens now

• Start date unchanged: the playtest still begins October 29, now on Digital Sun’s Discord, with players let in in waves.
• How to get in: players who want a chance to try the game this year are asked to join the Discord server and pick up the Playtesting role there.
• Public test later: the studio hopes to open a public playtest around January.
• Release unaffected: ReVamp is still due on March 25, 2027.

Digital Sun apologised to everyone who had requested access on Steam for the change.

About the game

ReVamp’s Steam store page calls it a “Tower Defensevania” in which the player rules as Dracula, building a castle room by room, leading monster troops and joining fights to fend off human invaders. Digital Sun is listed as both developer and publisher, the release date is given as March 25, 2027, and the system requirements cover Windows.

Context

Digital Sun is not the only studio rethinking early access to an unreleased game. Alliance Arts recently called off the public demo of Drunken Goddess Reflux and switched to closed sessions, citing similar worries about quick copies.

What we don’t know yet

Digital Sun has not given a tester count or a timetable for the waves.