Stupid Never Dies Game Director on a Chaotic Action RPG With Lightning-Fast Leveling — A VGTimes Interview

Stupid Never Dies is a game about an ordinary zombie who battles all kinds of monsters. Thanks to an extensive arsenal, active and passive abilities, and unusual combat styles, you'll be able to develop your own unique build that matches your tactics. The goal of the protagonist, Davey, is to save a student named Julia. She froze to death in a freezer, but there's still a chance to bring her back to life. Everything here is steeped in light humor and rebellious '90s style.

Our questions were answered by Eiichiro Sasaki, the game director of Stupid Never Dies. Previously, he led development on the sixth installment of the Resident Evil series and the Outbreak duology.

VGTimes: Tell us about the game — its setting, lore, and story.

Eiichiro Sasaki: It's an action game in which we play as a zombie. So you don't need to worry about being killed, because technically the protagonist is already dead. You have to focus on striking your opponents. There's no point in defending or dodging — the only thing that matters is landing hits yourself. "Attack, attack, attack" is the game's main philosophy.

You need to understand that Stupid Never Dies is an unusual action-RPG. As a rule, in projects of this genre you need 30–40 hours to reach the maximum level and defeat the final boss. In this game, it takes much less time to level up to the limit — from 20 to 30 minutes.

VGTimes: Character progression really does feel very fast. Why is this so important to you?

Eiichiro Sasaki: Stupid Never Dies has a limit set on the time you can spend in a dungeon. At the same time, every run differs from the last, because over time you'll learn the game and get further and further within that same time period on each attempt. This is a key feature of the project.

VGTimes: Your team includes many people who came from Capcom, including some who worked on Devil May Cry. Is their experience useful for developing Stupid Never Dies?

Eiichiro Sasaki: The game has a multitude of combat styles. You can also equip different weapons on your hands and, in general, customize the protagonist before a fight. It's important that all of these options feel good during play and are well balanced. And that's no easy task. The staff at GPTRACK50 have experience creating action games, and it really helps to fine-tune the balance during the final stage of development.

VGTimes: The game has madness and fun, yet the story also features love. How do these fit together in a single project?

Eiichiro Sasaki: An unusual love story awaits you. The idea is this: a zombie who is already dead meets a girl who has frozen to death. It all really does sound crazy, but I hope we've found a balance between all the components of the story.

VGTimes: What moment will surprise players the most in Stupid Never Dies?

Eiichiro Sasaki: An important feature of the game is the variety in choosing your combat style and gear, which you select before setting off to fight monsters. And this combines with elements of randomness during the battles themselves. When you return to the safe zone, it may seem like you've already worked out the best combat tactics. But during each run, you'll discover new gameplay features and try out different approaches.

VGTimes: When does the game come out?

Eiichiro Sasaki: On October 22, for PlayStation 5 and on Steam.

VGTimes: Thank you very much!

In Stupid Never Dies you can spot traits of all sorts of action games about the living dead, but the first one that comes to mind is Lollipop Chainsaw. And the combat brings to mind Devil May Cry — and not the main series, but the 2013 reboot that fans dislike so much. Still, the very concept of experimenting with an extensive arsenal and unique abilities seems intriguing.

And what do you think about this game? Share your opinions in the comments!

VGTimes has been operating since 2011 and over that time has attended dozens of exhibitions and festivals, where our journalists have gathered a wealth of exclusive material. For example, in 2019 we attended a closed showing of Cyberpunk 2077 at gamescom, in 2017 we prepared a photo report from WG Fest, in 2020 we were at the largest gaming event in Central Asia — CAGS, and we have visited IgroMir several times, where we met Hideo Kojima and other famous developers. In 2024 we traveled to the Land of the Rising Sun for TGS 2024, where we were amazed by the scale of the Tokyo event. In 2025 we witnessed one of Asia's premier gaming exhibitions — ChinaJoy in Shanghai. We also made it to the Thai edition of gamescom 2025 in Bangkok, and at the start of this year attended CES 2026 in Las Vegas and later Computex 2026 in Taipei.