Hello to the VDR Community!
| TL;DR Creative Director, Jesse Lax, introduces himself, talks about Kwaai Software, and explains the long gap in communication. He emphasizes more transparency moving forward, and informs that the VDR+ screen has been updated with the 2026 Event Calendar. New Crypt Avatars are coming, and work on the Prowling Event and the ability to re-skin your game is resuming work soon. |
My name is Jesse Lax, I'm creative director for Kwaai Software and the VDR Dev Team. I'm introducing myself to you today because things have been quiet on our side. So much so that I wanted to pop in to give a personalized hello.
I think right now is the right time to increase transparency between us and you, and in doing so we'll talk about why the quietude and what we're looking at for 2026!
Before we get there, I'd like to share something about Kwaai Software. I think many people assume that because we're a "company"—one with two games that have been consistently running for over a decade—that we're some form of fiendish misers who are leaning into the transformation of becoming the corporate monsters we're all surrounded by every day.
This couldn't be further from the truth.
As it happens, I'm writing to you right now from my bedroom. (Yes, I just snapped that pic up there now. I'm literally drinking coffee and haven't done a thing about my crazy hair.) I have a nice little office desk for my antiquated PC crammed in the corner near a window, between an old TV and a cat tree.
This is hardly the kind of scene many people expect when they pop-into the game to run the hitlist. But it's reality. So while we often say we're Indy developers, even this moniker isn't quite as apt as it should be. We try to look professional—that's important in our industry—but we're actually just a few regular people who love games, have some great skills, and happened to run into one another at the right time to make it happen.
The Long Silence
While VDR has been running like a champ, the year of 2025 ended precariously for the company behind the scenes. In the last six months much has happened.
I personally began going through some very troubling times—between family and personal life—it's safe to say it's all a dumpster fire. Meanwhile one of our developers left the team. We're now only two developers and a database admin strong, and we're still trying to compensate for that loss.
If that weren't enough, the Facebook platform began pummeling our sister game Vampires: The Darkside with complications. To the point that we lost our ability to monetize there and were forced to move the game off the platform. We were successful, thankfully!
It was a scary time for us and everyone in that community. But they pulled together to help! And it's important to tell you that it was you guys—this Rising Community— who kept our servers online while we went into emergency mode to save VDS. Literally, it was your passion for this game which made it possible to save that game.
While we've still much to do behind the scenes, things are starting to simmer down a little for us and finally we're able to start looking ahead into 2026.
Right Now
As of today, I've completed your 2026 Event Portal. Please be sure to refresh the main VDR+ screen (just scroll to the bottom and hit the UPDATE button, or refresh your browser). Also, please be sure that your Event Portal screen is similarly updated. You'll see dates on both screens reflecting the Feb 20, 2026 update.
When you do, you may also notice that this year we've brought back Necroreaping in a new way, expanding it's length to run over consecutive days. For example, in July, your Necroreaping will run for (5) full days straight. In December, you'll have it for (7) full days.
We'll be updating the Necroreaping Exchange Shop with larger available quantities to accommodate your extended gameplay. This will be a really good opportunity to dig in and earn some sigils to fill out your vampire's arsenal!
Last, we've been informed that the location which houses our physical servers has been shutdown, and our server providers are swapping us to a new IP address. This doesn't have to mean anything to you, and it won't affect your event. But if you see we're down for maintenance after the event, we're just tying that up!
Looking Ahead
Last year we mentioned bringing to you a Prowling Event. This was delayed by the troubles we've been going through, but is still in the works. As are plans for some new customization options (re-skin your game, anyone?). We're expecting work on these will resume very soon.
However, I know you guys are pretty tired of the current Crypt Avatars selection! I'm planning to sit down and focus on rolling out a spat of new ones before we get to that.
We have an official Discord server coming soon, and a slew of other features we're looking at starting this year. Once it's set in stone, I'll be coming back to fill you in.
In the meantime, my focus is going to be on communicating with you like this, as I can, with more transparency. That will increase three-fold once our Discord is up and running!
For now, have a killer time with your Bloodbath this weekend!
Happy Hunting,
Jesse Lax
⌘ VDR Dev Team
Kwaai Software LLC
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