Chinese action game Phantom Blade Zero finally has a worldwide release date: 9th September 2026.
The news was announced by developer S-Game at tonight’s The Game Awards, with a trailer showing some fresh story scenes and a tonne of gameplay.
You can check it all out in the video below – it’s looking awesome.
That release date has been eagerly anticipated. The game was first revealed back in 2023 at a Sony showcase, and quickly garnered attention. Details have since come in drips and drabs, with a new Year of the Snake trailer shown at the start of this year.
As for how it plays, I went hands-on at Gamescom in 2024 and loved its fast and stylish combat. And to be clear for the millionth time – it is not a Soulslike, something the developer has frequently reiterated since Phantom Blade Zero’s initial reveal.
Then, at GDC earlier this year, I spoke with creator “Soulframe” Liang about the key influences on the game. It’s been likened not just to FromSoftware’s games, but the likes of Ninja Gaiden and Devil May Cry too. “But for us,” said Liang, “it’s hard to label our game as a pure Souls game, nor hack and slash. It’s just something in between. It’s a way to tell a story.”
“We want to call back the golden age of Hong Kong kung fu movies from the 1970s, starting from Bruce Lee and then Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Donnie Yen,” he continued. “The trend has faded out since the early 2000s so we want to go back to that and try to bring the trend back.”
The game is also following in the footsteps of the phenomenally successful Black Myth: Wukong, as one of many Chinese-made action-RPGs alongside the likes of the forthcoming Tides of Annihilation and the PlayStation-published Lost Soul Aside.
