Phantom Blade Zero Developer: S-GAME Studio Story

Phantom Blade Zero is developed by S-GAME, a Beijing-based Chinese studio founded in 2011 by Liang Qiwei, better known by his handle Soulframe Liang. From a one-man RPG Maker project that racked up over four million downloads to a roughly 140-person studio backed by Tencent, the company has spent a decade and a half working toward exactly this game: its first major global release.

Soulframe Liang: From Architecture to RPG Maker

Liang's background is unusual for a game director. He studied at Tsinghua University in Beijing and later earned a master's degree in architecture from Yale, spending time in New Haven while making games as what he describes as an escape from the difficulties of his life at the time.

In 2010, working alone, he built Rainblood: Town of Death with RPG Maker. The game was downloaded more than four million times, a success that directly led to the founding of S-GAME after he turned down an offer from a New York architecture firm and returned to China. He began as a one-person studio and grew it from there.

Studio Growth and Investors

S-GAME started with just four people who had met online. Today the studio employs around 140 staff spread across four offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Los Angeles, with the Los Angeles office hosting press visits around events like The Game Awards.

The investor list includes ZhenFund, NetEase, and Tencent. NetEase invested early and its stake was later bought back, while Tencent now holds 25 percent; the remainder belongs to Liang and his team, a structure he summarizes as keeping the ability to "control creation, control capital." Liang laid out this financing story to press who visited the Los Angeles studio during The Game Awards week in December 2025. For the studio's full corporate profile at a glance, see the quick facts table in our wiki overview.

Ten Years of Mobile Games Before the Leap

Before Phantom Blade Zero, S-GAME spent its first decade making mobile games for the Chinese market. Rainblood grew into a full series that was later renamed Phantom Blade, and while most of those titles were never released outside China, they accumulated more than 20 million players.

Phantom Blade Zero was first conceived in 2017, entered full production in 2022, and was revealed to the world at the PlayStation Showcase in May 2023. The studio describes it as the spiritual rebirth of the original Rainblood: the same core, rebuilt in Unreal Engine 5 and massively expanded, from a roughly two-hour RPG Maker adventure to a modern action RPG of around 40 hours. In Liang's telling, the scale and content have grown enormously, but the core has never changed. As of August 2026 the game has gone gold, and it launched pre-orders at $59.99 for the Standard Edition and $69.99 for the Digital Deluxe.

Kungfupunk and the Design Philosophy

Liang is adamant that Phantom Blade Zero is not a Soulslike. His references are the pace and stylized offense of Ninja Gaiden and Devil May Cry, delivered with stronger accessibility and cinematic presentation, in a style he calls "kung fu punk": traditional kung fu colliding with steampunk machinery and body modification.

The narrative ambition is equally clear. Liang has described the game's positioning as the "Chinese version of John Wick." The studio's inspirations span Louis Cha's wuxia novels, Bruce Lee films, Michelle Yeoh, and Donnie Yen's work in John Wick: Chapter 4, alongside manga such as Vagabond, Berserk, and Claymore. The world design is deliberately semi-open: multiple reasonably sized, hand-crafted maps filled with varied activities rather than one giant open world, and the dark, oppressive visual tone is an intentional choice. More on that in the soulslike guide.

S-GAME has also explained the wuxia side of its identity on camera. In the official behind-the-scenes video "What Exactly is Wuxia," director Soulframe Liang walks through how the game expresses wuxia elements, where its unique combat style comes from, and how real kung fu design is translated into gameplay. Treat it as a companion piece to the studio's stated design references rather than a separate philosophy.

Kenji Tanigaki and Real Kung Fu

The studio treats authenticity as a production method, not a marketing line. Kenji Tanigaki serves as action director, personally demonstrating each designed move so it can be captured with a camera matrix for the animation team. Officially, the combat moves must be hand-animated because, as S-GAME puts it, "motion capturing can't do it justice."

The Shanghai office works with more than 20 real kung fu masters, alongside stunt performers, to build a motion library grounded in real body mechanics. The crown jewel of this approach is Donnie Yen, who has served as Creative Consultant since 2023 and performs as the facial and motion capture actor for Mó Yuan, Soul's father. His own words on the project: "When you play Phantom Blade Zero, I want you to step into a wuxia world driven by old grudges, shifting alliances, and the confrontations that define every warrior's path." To see the results in motion, browse the trailer archive.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who owns S-GAME?

Tencent holds a 25 percent stake, while the remaining shares belong to founder Soulframe Liang and his team, who also previously bought back NetEase's early investment.

How many people work at S-GAME?

Roughly 140 employees work across four offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Los Angeles, up from the four founders who originally met online.

What did S-GAME make before Phantom Blade Zero?

The studio spent its first decade on Chinese mobile games, the Phantom Blade series that grew out of Liang's RPG Maker hit Rainblood, which together drew more than 20 million players.

Who is the founder of S-GAME?

Soulframe Liang, born Liang Qiwei, a Tsinghua graduate with a master's degree in architecture from Yale who left the field to found the studio in 2011.

Does Donnie Yen work on the game?

Yes. Donnie Yen has been Creative Consultant since 2023 and is the facial and motion capture actor for Mó Yuan, working alongside action director Kenji Tanigaki.