Phantom Blade Zero Director Talks PlayStation's First Reaction to the Game

A raw early build of Phantom Blade Zero earned S-Game studio an unexpected invitation to the PlayStation Showcase 2023 event. Soulframe, director of Phantom Blade Zero, recalls a meeting

A rough early version of Phantom Blade Zero earned S-Game Studios an unexpected invitation to the 2023 PlayStation Showcase event.

Soulframe, the director of Phantom Blade Zero, has recalled the meeting that helped turn S-Game Studio's initial project into one of the shows at the PlayStation Showcase event. According to the director, the studio came into the meeting with a rough draft and soon found itself pitching the game to senior executives at PlayStation.

In an interview with PCGamesN media, Soulframe said that S-Game initially met with a PlayStation sales representative to show him an early version of the project. This version was far less polished than the representation we see of the game today, but it quickly made an impact.

Soulframe stated that Christian Svensson and Shohei Yoshida, senior PlayStation executives, were nearby during the meeting. After the initial presentation, they were also invited to watch the game trailer. Solframe recalls Sonson's reaction:

Damn! who are you This is very admirable.

This reaction led to an invitation from S-Game Studio to attend the 2023 PlayStation Showcase event. This was a big step forward for a studio that previously focused on smaller games and mobile titles.

Time for preparation was very limited. Soulframe said the production team only had about two months to prepare the videos needed for the event; So he focused on editing and working with what he already had to create a 3-minute trailer. The studio didn't expect to have a large amount of content ready to roll out beyond that initial showing.

PCGamesN reports that the trailer became the second most watched video of the event after Marvel's Spider-Man 2. For a new action role-playing title from a studio making its first big foray into the console and PC markets, the demo felt more like a workable calling card than a surefire guarantee of success.

Now three years later, Phantom Blade Zero has gone from being a surprise showcase at a showcase event to one of PlayStation's flagship campaigns. The game received its exclusive gameplay-focused presentation at the State of Play event in August, and PlayStation continues to promote it as one of the most important releases for the PS5 console.

S-Game Studio describes Phantom Blade Zero as a fast-paced action role-playing title that tells the story of an assassin named Sol; A character who has only 66 days to live after being accused of murdering his teacher. The game combines Wuxia-inspired martial arts with a dark fantasy-style setting, and Soulframe has repeatedly resisted labeling the game solely as a Souls-like work.

The game Phantom Blade Zero will be released on the 7th of Aban (October 29) for the PlayStation 5 and PC platforms.