Bithell Games, the studio behind Tron: Catalyst, John Wick Hex and Thomas Was Alone, has announced a new minimalist immersive vampire sim called Vampirium: 1997. The game casts players as an assassin serving the King of England — who is also Dracula — with the goal of infiltrating locked-down locations and eliminating his enemies to secure a vampiric empire. The announcement is notable given the studio's recent difficulties, having laid off most of its staff nearly a year ago after failing to secure a larger project following Tron: Catalyst.

Gameplay is presented from an abstracted, top-down tactical perspective, showing blueprint building layouts and dots representing other people, with interaction windows offering choices such as switching off lights or taking out guards. A central mechanic is time management, controlled via a clock in the corner of the screen, where actions carry a time cost that players must weigh against the risk of danger. The title may be developed solely by founder Mike Bithell — who noted it was built on his Mac and is already Steam Deck compatible at 60fps — and is scheduled for an early access release at an unannounced date, accompanied by a novella called The Last Portrait released chapter by chapter.