Phantom Blade: Zero, the action RPG, is slated for an October 29 release, a date that places it in close proximity to the highly anticipated Grand Theft Auto 6. Despite this potential competition, game director Qiwei "Soulframe" Liang stated that the team is not factoring Grand Theft Auto 6 into their marketing strategy or release schedule.
Liang explained that the development team's primary focus is on the quality and polish of Phantom Blade: Zero itself. "We don't think about any of this. We only think of the quality of the product itself," Liang said. "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."
When asked directly about the prospect of launching near Grand Theft Auto 6, Liang expressed that the team does not consider external factors like release dates of other major titles. "We don't even think of the competition, what's launching ahead or after. What matters is how polished the game is, and if we have one or two extra months, we can fix more bugs, do more optimizations, so that we don't need a huge day one patch." This approach prioritizes ensuring the game is as bug-free and optimized as possible upon release, potentially reducing the need for significant post-launch updates.
Beyond release timing, the developers are also considering hardware accessibility. The team aims for Phantom Blade: Zero to be playable on the Steam Deck, which presents a challenge given its development in Unreal Engine 5. Furthermore, a key focus during the final polishing stages will be ensuring the game performs well without ray tracing enabled. "This year the hardware price is going up, and people who want to replace their hardware may postpone their plan to upgrade their equipment, so we think we need to let the game be played by as many players as possible without reducing the quality," Liang commented. This decision reflects a commitment to making the game accessible to a wider audience despite rising hardware costs.