Weŕe the first to admit that we were bummed about the delay to Phantom Blade Zero’s September release, and we share your concerns about it potentially being overshadowed by the behemoth that is Grand Theft Auto 6.
However, it looks like it’s business as usual over at S-GAME, with director Qiwei Liang telling PC Gamer that the team “didn’t think” about the competition, but has focused its efforts on releasing a polished experience and is using the extra time to “fix more bugs, [and] do more optimizations” to avoid a “huge day one patch.”
“Many people may think we have some marketing strategy to move it from the overcrowded September, and some are very worried that it’s closer to November. We don’t think about any of this. We only think of the quality of the product itself. I don’t think competition can influence much the success of a work. Only the product itself matters. So I would say 99% of the decision [was about] development.”
It’s a bold approach, to be sure, but we’ve previously talked about how this one could be a strong contender amongst a sea of great releases this year thanks to a combat and traversal loop that’s high on style and substance. It’s indeed heartening to see a newer developer go this route without worrying how Rockstar’s reputation has preceded it enough to scare off a bunch of other studios, forcing them into a limited earlier release window for what could be very good games.
It’s equally nice to see the team focus on making their game as accessible to “as many players as possible”, with the studio looking to bring it to the Steam Deck despite the handheld’s Unreal Engine 5 woes. We’ll have to wait and see if the team’s courage is rewarded, but we’re almost certain it will keep us coming back for more when it finally launches in late October for the PC and PS5.
