Phantom Blade Zero has achieved a significant launch on Steam, with the wuxia action game from S-Game reaching a peak of 431,541 concurrent players shortly after its release. This strong performance places it as the second most-played game on Steam at the time of reporting, trailing only Counter-Strike 2.
The game is also leading Steam's global top sellers chart, a notable jump of 16 places this week. Early user reviews on Steam indicate a positive reception, with the game currently holding a 'Mostly Positive' average rating.
While official sales figures have not yet been released by S-Game, industry analyst Rhys Elliott of Alinea Analytics estimated that the game had already sold over 1 million copies across PC and PlayStation 5 prior to its launch. Elliott's projections suggest that around 850,000 copies were sold on PC and PS5, with additional sales on Tencent WeGame in China contributing to the total exceeding the 1 million mark.
Earlier estimates from Elliott had placed Steam sales at 500,000 copies shortly before the game's October 28 release, with 80,000 of those attributed to sales in the two days following review publications. These figures, while substantial, fall short of the performance seen by another Chinese-developed action title, Black Myth: Wukong. Upon its release in 2024, Black Myth: Wukong peaked at over 2.4 million concurrent players on Steam and is estimated to have sold more than 30 million copies lifetime.
Elliott does not anticipate Phantom Blade Zero will reach the same sales heights as Black Myth: Wukong, but he predicts strong sales for the year, a forecast already supported by the game's current performance. The analyst also suggested that positive word-of-mouth could further boost player numbers, potentially leading to over 500,000 peak concurrent players on Steam by the weekend.
In a review of Phantom Blade Zero, Eurogamer noted that while the game's swordplay and combat were highlights, a general lack of polish and pacing issues caused by boss fights detracted from the overall experience.