Phantom Blade Zero Pre-Orders Have Exceeded Expectations, Says Game Producer

Pre-Orders Are Off To A Strong Start

Phantom Blade Zero director and S-Game founder Soulframe Liang says the game’s launch is already exceeding internal expectations.

“The pre-sale of Phantom Blade Zero has been open for five days, and the results have far exceeded expectations,” Liang wrote in a post on Bilibili the night before the game’s State of Play.

He thanked fans directly, calling their support “a vote of trust” the team intends to repay with a strong final product.

Much of that early buzz has centered on Donnie Yen’s involvement, which Liang says sparked a wave of memes online. He addressed concerns that the partnership might just be a celebrity endorsement layered on top of the game rather than something built into it. “This collaboration is not another case of a star doing paid promotion for a game,” Liang wrote, noting Yen did full facial and motion capture, recorded his own English voice lines, and worked with veteran action choreographer Yan Hua to help design the game’s more complex combat sequences.

State of Play Showed 20 Minutes Of New Gameplay

The following day’s State of Play backed that framing up with real detail. S-Game confirmed players will unlock more than 30 main weapons and 25 secondary weapons called Phantom Edges while exploring the Wulin, all upgradeable and swappable to build different combat styles, including ranged options and combat summons.

The studio also confirmed three difficulty modes: Wayfarer for players who want to focus on story, Hellwalker for tougher, more adaptive enemy AI, and Sixty-Six Days, described simply as “not for the faint of heart.”

Donnie Yen’s role was confirmed as creative consultant, alongside playing Mo Yuan, a hidden final boss players have to earn the right to fight through exploration and trials. This isn’t Yen’s first credit in games either; Liang noted in his post that Yen directed the intro cinematic for Capcom’s Onimusha 3 over two decades ago, making Phantom Blade Zero something of a full-circle return to the medium for him.

Phantom Blade Zero launches on PS5 and PC on October 29. The game is also confirmed to be 12 month console exclusive for PS5, meaning it will launch on Xbox consoles a year after its inital release.