Phantom Blade Zero is among the many high-profile games launching during October to avoid colliding directly with GTA 6, but the action game developed by S-Game was originally supposed to launch on September 9 on PC and PlayStation 5. Still, director Soulframe Liang took advantage of the game's original release day to provide some great insight, revealing how a single playthrough at any difficulty will be enough to unlock the Platinum Trophy, but New Game+ and the Sixty-Six Days difficulty mode will reveal the true essence of the experience. "I never thought before that in Phantom Blade Zero, my favorite […]
Phantom Blade Zero is tracking to be the next big thing out of China, according to Alinea Analytics. The firm reckons that the game has already sold 300K units on Steam in the few days since pre-orders opened, generating $14.5M in revenue. Phantom Blade Zero also leads this year's Steam wishlist chart, with 1.6 million users who already wishlisted the game. At this point, the big question is whether it can fully match the enormous success of Game Science's Black Myth: Wukong, which sold 30 million units in less than two years, becoming by far the biggest triple-A game out […]
Phantom Blade Zero is off to a scorching start, and it’s got Black Myth: Wukong’s shadow looming over it already.
According to Alinea Analytics, the game has shifted 300K units on Steam in just a few days since pre-orders went live, pulling in $14.5M. It’s also sitting top of this year’s Steam wishlist chart with 1.6 million people waiting on it. That’s 73% of the pace Black Myth: Wukong was moving at before its own launch, and 6.4 times more than Wuchang: Fallen Feathers managed with 70 days still left before Phantom Blade Zero even comes out.
Can Phantom Blade Zero actually catch Wukong?
Probably not, and it doesn’t need to. Wukong sold 30 million copies in under two years and became China’s biggest triple-A export by a mile. Chinese game consultant Daniel Camilo told Alinea that hype for Phantom Blade Zero is nowhere close to that level, but still well above what Wuchang saw before launch. He reckons this one’s more of a “gamers’ thing”, just a big one.
That could still shift. Phantom Blade Zero has a Mainland China publishing licence and launches there on the same day as everywhere else, October 29th. Camilo expects that to unlock a wave of real-world promotion in China beyond the usual online push, the kind of marketing muscle unlicensed games don’t get.
For a first-time triple-A studio, even landing within touching distance of Wukong’s numbers would be a massive win. If the reviews hold up, this one might just get there.
Phantom Blade Zero has been a long time coming, with the flashy action-adventure title being first announced back in 2023 – though developed stretches as far back as 2017. Following plenty of trailers and a recent State of Play deep-dive, pre-orders for Phantom Blade officially went live last week. Despite being well over a month out from release, the game is already exceeding expectations.
“Hello everyone! The pre-orders for *Phantom Blade Zero* have been running for five days, and the pre-order results have far exceeded expectations. For this, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to all the friends who support *Phantom Blade Zero*! This is a vote of confidence cast upon us by our players, and we will certainly do our utmost to present everyone with an excellent game product.”
In case you missed it, the recent State of Play offered an interesting look at the game, breaking down the many different weapons and gameplay styles available, while also discussing its various difficulty modes (including the hardcore 66 days mode).
Phantom Blade Zero always looked like an impressive game, but the latest showcase has finally given the title a sense of tangibility. Hopefully the game proves to be just as big of a success critically as it appears to be commercially. Soulframe’s full statement – including discussions surrounding the involvement of Donnie Yen – can be found HERE.
KitGuru says: Are you excited for Phantom Blade Zero? Have you pre-ordered? Let us know down below.
Fifty-five weapons sounds like overkill until you realise half of Phantom Blade Zero‘s enemies simply won’t care how sharp your sword is.
S-GAME’s latest State of Play, hosted alongside creative consultant Donnie Yen, confirmed Soul will have access to 30 primary weapons and 25 secondary “Phantom Edges” to fight through the Wulin. That’s a lot of choice on paper, and the standouts shown off back it up. The Drunken Sword builds up energy for a staggering, evasive fighting style. The Soft Snake Sword coils around guards and slices thrown weapons out of the air. White Serpent and Crimson Viper work as a pair, with the longer blade flinging the shorter one out for ranged hits.
Phantom Blade Zero – State of Play deep dive
Blades alone won’t get you through
Here’s the catch, though: none of that fancy swordplay works on shielded enemies. S-GAME was blunt about it, blades reportedly aren’t enough to break heavy defences, so players will need to lean on blunt weapons like iron fists and hammers instead, alongside area-of-effect fire weapons for clearing out swarms. It’s a smart way to stop players just mainlining one flashy weapon for the whole game.
There’s also a Reforging Talisman for anyone who picks the wrong tool early and regrets it, resetting a weapon’s level and refunding materials to reinvest elsewhere. Combined with the three difficulty modes on show, including the brutal 66 Days Mode where losing fights actually burns down Soul’s in-game countdown timer, it’s clear S-GAME wants players building a proper toolkit rather than a favourite.
Good news if you were bracing for another PC requirements list that assumes everyone’s sitting on a 4090: Phantom Blade Zero’s specs are actually reasonable.
S-GAME has dropped the official PC requirements for its action RPG, out October 29, and the baseline is refreshingly low.
Requirement
Minimum
Recommended
Processor
Intel Core i7-8700K / AMD Ryzen 5 3600
Intel Core i5-10600K / AMD Ryzen 5 5600X
Memory
16 GB RAM
16 GB RAM
Graphics
GTX 1660 6GB / RX 5500 XT 8GB
RTX 3060 Ti 8GB / RX 6700 XT 12GB
DirectX
Version 12
Version 12
Storage
SSD required
SSD required
Resolution
1080p/30 FPS with upscaling
1440p/60 FPS with upscaling
Nothing here should scare anyone running a mid-range rig from a few years back.
Phantom Blade Zero Ray tracing and path tracing specs
Where it gets interesting is the ray tracing tier.
Requirement
Ray Tracing Recommended
Path Tracing Recommended
Graphics card
RTX 5060 8GB
RTX 5080 16GB
Resolution
1080p/60 FPS with upscaling
2160p/60 FPS with upscaling
An RTX 5060 gets you 1080p/60 with hardware ray tracing, which is a fair ask. Push for full path tracing at 4K/60, though, and S-GAME wants an RTX 5080. That’s the real cost of the Phantom Blade Zero’s best-looking mode, and it’s not subtle.
S-GAME had promised players wouldn’t need to upgrade just to play Phantom Blade Zero, and going by these numbers, they’ve kept that word. The path tracing tax is real, but it’s opt-in, not mandatory.
On the software side, DLSS 4.5 with Multi Frame Generation is confirmed. No word yet on FSR or XeSS support, so AMD and Intel users are left guessing for now. PS5 players get the base experience plus unspecified PS5 Pro enhancements, while path tracing stays a PC-only flex.
Reasonable specs and an expensive ceiling. That’s about as fair as PC requirements get these days.
Following the opening of pre-orders, Chinese developer S-GAME has now released the official PC system requirements for Phantom Blade Zero, their much-anticipated action RPG due on October 29. The minimum and recommended requirements aren't too demanding at all, and even the ray tracing and path tracing GPU requirements seem fair, as you can read in the tables below. Requirement Minimum Recommended Processor Intel Core i7-8700K or AMD Ryzen 5 3600 Intel Core i5-10600K or AMD Ryzen 5 5600X Memory 16 GB RAM 16 GB RAM Graphics NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 6GB or AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT 8GB NVIDIA GeForce […]
As promised, Chinese developer S-GAME has opened pre-orders for Phantom Blade Zero while also sharing a new 11-minute trailer that mixes high-octane combat action with new characters and dialogues. The studio also wished to thank their high-profile consultant, Donnie Yen (John Wick 4): Donnie Yen has served as Creative Consultant on Phantom Blade Zero since 2023, bringing his martial arts and action filmmaking expertise to the game’s combat design. He also takes on the role of Facial & Motion Capture Actor for Mó Yuan. Huge thanks to Donnie and his stunt team for bringing authentic kung fu to the game. […]
Phantom Blade Zero fans finally have a date to circle. S-Game has confirmed a dedicated State of Play for the game on August 17 at 7pm PT, and yes, that timing feels odd until you remember the studio’s based in China, so it’s actually a sensible slot on their end.
CEO Soulframe Liang says the showcase will dig into the combat systems and drop new story details, including characters we haven’t seen yet. There’s also a line about “just how expressive” builds can get, which I’ll believe when I see it, but if it delivers on that combat promise, I’m in.
Pre-orders for Phantom Blade Zero are now open!
Watch the 11-minute trailer and follow Soul deeper into his journey, where new faces and encounters await along the way.
Donnie Yen has served as Creative Consultant on Phantom Blade Zero since 2023, bringing his martial arts and… pic.twitter.com/Eoaa9gw4rk
The bigger surprise is Donnie Yen. He’s not just consulting on the action choreography, he’s doing facial and motion capture for Mó Yuan, father to protagonist Soul. That’s a genuinely exciting pull for a martial arts game trying to prove its combat is the real deal.
Pre-orders are already live, so S-Game clearly reckons this showcase will seal the deal for anyone still on the fence.
Phantom Blade Zero has been a long time coming, with the ambitious and flashy action title taking viewers by surprise upon its initial unveiling back during Sony’s 2023 PlayStation Showcase. Having officially gone GOLD last week, the team at S-GAME have released a lengthy 11-minute gameplay trailer as pre-orders for Phantom Blade Zero have now gone live.
As mentioned, we just got a ton of gameplay via the pre-order trailer. For those who remain unconvinced however, S-GAME and PlayStation announced that they will be going live with a dedicated State of Play presentation next week on the 17th of August.
Though yet to be officially confirmed, rumours have claimed that a demo for Phantom Blade Zero will be released at the end of the showcase – giving you the opportunity for hands-on experience.
Either way, Phantom Blade Zero looks set to be a major success, assuming its fast and flashy combat proves to be as fun to play as it looks. We won’t have to wait long to find out.
Phantom Blade Zero has been a long time coming, with the ambitious and flashy action title taking viewers by surprise upon its initial unveiling back during Sony’s 2023 PlayStation Showcase. Following plenty of presentations and even a playable demo, Phantom Blade Zero is finally almost here – having now officially gone Gold far ahead of its October launch.
Taking to its socials to make the announcement, development studio S-GAME officially confirmed that Phantom Blade Zero has now gone Gold writing: “Players, thank you for waiting! Development on Phantom Blade Zero is now complete,” adding that “pre-orders and an all-new 11-minute trailer go live on: August 11 at 7 PM PT” – or the 12th August at 3AM in the UK.
While we’ve already seen quite a bit from the game, the team have teased that the upcoming trailer will include “new story content, characters, combat, and something unexpected.”
Either way, with more than two months to go until the game’s release, Phantom Blade Zero is in a pretty good spot right now. For context, most games don’t go Gold until far closer to launch, with the average being around a month of lead-up.
Hopefully this means that when Phantom Blade Zero does arrive on the 29th of October, the full game’s data will be right on the disc from the get-go.
KitGuru says: Are you looking forward to the game? Do you think it will play as good as it looks? Let us know down below.
Powered by Unreal Engine 5, Phantom Blade Zero is set to be one of the most stunning action games launching in the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S generation, but developer S-Game's choice of engine will not prevent those playing on low-end hardware from enjoying the game, as game director Qiwei "Soulframe" Liang promised a smooth experience on every format, even on Steam Deck. Speaking with PC Gamer, Liang highlighted how aware the team is of the rising prices of gaming hardware due to the AI boom, and said that the final polishing phase will ensure players will have a […]
The official X account of Phantom Blade Zero has posted a brief video interview with S-GAME founder and creative director Soulframe Liang, in which the developer seemed to outline an Honor system not unlike the one in Rockstar's masterpiece, Red Dead Redemption 2. In that game, most player actions, such as helping strangers or killing innocents, affected a full-fledged morality mechanic that influenced NPC behavior, shop prices, loot quality, and even the story's ending. Fans understandably started to get excited about this. Very few games since RDR 2 have attempted something like that. However, Phantom Blade Zero's X account quickly clarified that there is no […]
This morning, Phantom Blade Zero Game Director Liang Qiwei (known to the public as Soulframe) posted a lengthy letter on X about the studio's commitment to human artistry and creative expression over AI-generated content. Above all, though, it seems like the studio is quietly withdrawing support for the new NVIDIA DLSS 5 technology. Phantom Blade Zero was and still is officially listed among the first games to support NVIDIA DLSS 5, alongside AION 2, Assassin’s Creed Shadows, Black State, CINDER CITY, Delta Force, Hogwarts Legacy, Justice, NARAKA: BLADEPOINT, NTE: Neverness to Everness, Resident Evil Requiem, Sea of Remnants, Starfield, The […]
Login
