Phantom Blade Zero pre-orders impress despite possible lack of PS5 disc and demo

Protestors of Sony’s decision to desert physical games flooded the Phantom Blade Zero State of Play. The broadcast didn’t confirm an Xbox or PS5 disc option or announce the rumored demo. Regardless, at least so far, S-Game hasn't seen these concerns affect pre-order sales.

A confident S-Game

Liang Qiwei, the studio's founder and CEO, updated followers on the Chinese social media platform Bilibili. The executive said five days after opening reservations, “pre-order results have far exceeded expectations.”

Qiwei believes Donnie Yen's involvement has boosted marketing efforts. Yen plays the boss, Mo Yuan, and aided the developers with choreography for the kung fu-inspired combat. S-Game kept the collaboration under wraps until the end of the August 11th trailer.

Anticipating the October 29th Phantom Blade Zero release date, players in China flocked to the title. It follows Black Myth: Wukong, which showed that the country can produce popular action-based AAA games. With the latest project, 20,000 copies of a Collector’s Edition targeted at this audience reportedly sold out in just hours.

Global Steam performance also looks impressive, with the PC version ranking highly on the marketplace’s sales charts. Yet S-Game earlier noted that interest in Phantom Blade Zero pre-orders was international. Reported on Push Square, more than 50% of Steam and PlayStation Store wish lists were from gamers outside China.

State of Play spamming

While a successful launch may be inevitable, that hasn’t deterred defenders of physical games. The August 17th broadcast was the first State of Play since Sony revealed its shift away from PS5 discs. Complaints dominated the live chat, intermingled with fans wowed by the new combat footage.

The status of a Phantom Blade Zero physical release remains unclear. Play Asia insists the PS5 game will ship on a Blu-ray, but other retailers still haven’t stocked non-digital SKUs.

Buyers unsure about purchases were also hoping for a demo to emerge. A PlayStation Store listing appeared to hint at a download, then was taken offline.