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Phantom Blade Zero studio CEO Qiwei "Soulframe" Liang says that making the game is more important than making money.
Phantom Blade Zero has been high on my radar for the last few years thanks to the stylish action on show in the game's trailers, and a hands-on demo with it at last year's Summer Game Fest has had me itching to play more since. The game is intentionally a throwback to the 'PS2 Golden Age' of action games like Devil May Cry, Ninja Gaiden, and God Hand, instead of being "another Soulslike" like much of the hack and slash genre is.
Speaking to PC Gamer, S-GAME CEO Qiwei "Soulframe" Liang explained that even when the studio was starting out with mobile games, Phantom Blade Zero was "always the end goal."
Liang recalls being offered a job from an architecture firm in New York, but when returning to China for a holiday, noticed "the Chinese gaming industry was emerging." He soon met an investor, "packed overnight and flew back to China." S-Game then released sidescrolling action titles, but even if he is "proud of them," Liang says, "That scale, sidescrolling and with kung fu movements and skills, while also cool, I would say was not enough."
Liang explained his philosophy behind development, saying, "many people are making games for money, but we make money for games." He adds, "We made money from the mobile market, and then we think, at first, that we'll have to make this game without any support from investors, so we put all of our money from the mobile games into Phantom Blade Zero." However, the game was expanded in scope after Tencent invested in S-Game.
In an era where a studio can release Microsoft's most beloved game in a decade and be shut down a year later, as seen with Tango Gameworks and Hi-Fi Rush, it's surprising to hear the CEO of a company emphasize that creating art matters more than pursuing the path that maximizes profits. We're all for it.
