PlayStation's Ace in the Hole. Phantom Blade Zero Becomes a Hit Even Before Release - New Details Emerge
The Chinese action-RPG Phantom Blade Zero is rapidly gaining popularity outside of China.
According to Liang Qiwai, president of S-GAME studio, more than 50% of additions to wishlists come from foreign markets. The game showed a strong start, collecting a million wishlists in 15 days after the page appeared in late December. Interest in China was expected, but the developers were surprised by the response from audiences in Europe and North America, as well as high activity in Brazil, Turkey, and the Middle East.
Against the backdrop of this data, the authors decided to clarify the project's genre. Liang Qiwai emphasized that Phantom Blade Zero is not a soulslike. The game is a sandbox with a multi-tiered semi-open world and a combat system inspired by Chinese martial arts, but it is not a classic hack-and-slash. The project will have several difficulty levels to remain accessible to a wide audience. The studio also canceled the gameplay demonstration planned for the Chinese New Year period, focusing on final refinements.
The developers are also revising their marketing approach: future materials will focus more on game systems and plot, rather than just the combat component.
The release of Phantom Blade Zero on PC and PS5 is scheduled for September 9, 2026.
