Phantom Blade Zero vs Black Myth: Wukong, fact by fact

Phantom Blade Zero vs Black Myth: Wukong at a glance

Thirteen facts side by side, read 14 October 2026. Each cell names its source.

Topic	Phantom Blade ZeroS-GAME · 2026	Black Myth: WukongGame Science · 2024
Developer	S-GAME, which also publishes it	Game Science, which also publishes it
Release	29 October 2026, 02:00 UTC (28 October in the Americas)	20 August 2024, 02:00 UTC (19 August in the Americas)
Platforms	PS5 and PC (Steam, Epic Games Store). No other console for at least 12 months after release	PS5 and PC from launch; Xbox Series X|S from 20 August 2025
US price	$59.99 Standard, $69.99 Digital Deluxe	$59.99 standard price
The studio calls it	“a dark kungfupunk action RPG”	“an action RPG rooted in Chinese mythology”
Story and setting	Soul, a swordsman with sixty-six days to live, in the Wulin, a martial world	The Destined One, in a story based on the novel Journey to the West
Combat	Over 30 primary weapons; more than 20 Phantom Edges on Steam, 25 on the PlayStation Blog; dodge, deflect, counter	Staff techniques combined with spells, transformations and magic vessels
Length	25 to 30 hours if you don’t get stuck on bosses, the director’s estimate	“approximately 15+ hours”, the studio said; 25 to 30 hours in PCGamesN’s run
World	“not an open world game, nor is it a linear adventure”; 12 chapters across nine regions	Six chapters, each in a different location
Difficulty settings	Yes, four: Wayfarer, Pathbreaker, Hellwalker and 66 Days, which unlocks later	None: one fixed difficulty
Engine	Unreal Engine 5	Unreal Engine 5, moved up from Unreal Engine 4 in 2021
Steam Deck	Not rated by Valve yet	Rated Unsupported, for graphics performance
Full voice-over	English and Simplified Chinese; 15 languages in all	English and Simplified Chinese; 15 languages in all

Black Myth: Wukong has no images on this page: we found no press kit from Game Science with terms that cover a fan site. Every picture here is from Phantom Blade Zero.

Who makes Phantom Blade Zero and Black Myth: Wukong?

Phantom Blade Zero is made and published by S-GAME. Its Steam page lists S-GAME Studio as the developer and S-GAME Publishing as the publisher.

Black Myth: Wukong is made and published by Game Science. The PlayStation listing names the publisher in full as Game Science Interactive Technology Co., Ltd.

The two games are not related. They share no studio, no publisher and no story. Phantom Blade Zero’s director is Soulframe Liang.

One investor links them. MP1st reports that S-GAME has received more resources from investors such as Tencent, which also invested in Black Myth: Wukong.

When does each come out, on which platforms, and for how much?

The Steam store page shows one date, 28 October 2026, in every region we checked and has published no hour; the PlayStation Store’s unlock moment, 02:00 UTC on 29 October, falls on the evening of 28 October in the Americas and on 29 October in Europe, Asia and Australia. Local times are on our release time page.

Black Myth: Wukong came out at 02:00 UTC on 20 August 2024 on PS5, which was 19 August in the Americas. Steam shows 19 August 2024.

Black Myth: Wukong reached Xbox Series X|S on 20 August 2025, a year after PS5 and PC.

Phantom Blade Zero launches on PS5 and on PC through Steam and the Epic Games Store. The end card of the August 2026 State of Play reads “PlayStation®5 console exclusive*”, with the footnote: “*Also available on PC. Not available on other consoles until at least 12 months after release date.” No Xbox or Switch 2 version has been announced.

In the US both games list at $59.99 for the standard edition. Phantom Blade Zero also has a $69.99 Digital Deluxe Edition.

Their US age ratings differ. Phantom Blade Zero is rated ESRB Mature; Black Myth: Wukong is rated ESRB Teen.

Is Phantom Blade Zero like Black Myth: Wukong?

Both are action RPGs built on Chinese culture, for one player, in Unreal Engine 5. Their sources differ: Black Myth: Wukong adapts Journey to the West, one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature, while Phantom Blade Zero tells an original wuxia story.

S-GAME describes Phantom Blade Zero’s look as kungfupunk. Its Steam page lists the parts: martial arts, cold steel, mechanical prosthetics, crumbling industrial ruins, traditional Chinese aesthetics and modern rock music.

Game Science describes a world of Chinese myth instead: the Destined One meets foes from Journey to the West and uses spells, transformations and magic vessels.

Liang has been asked whether Phantom Blade Zero is a Soulslike. He told Inverse: “I’m actually a big fan of Souls games. The good thing is to extract elements from Souls games, and incorporate them into something we want to create.”

Analysts compare the two as products. Alinea Analytics says they share a similar character: high budgets, striking visuals and roots in Chinese culture. An analyst, Daniel Camilo, adds that Black Myth: Wukong was a once-in-a-generation cultural event, while Phantom Blade Zero’s audience is more concentrated among core players.

How does the combat differ?

Phantom Blade Zero is built around weapons. You master over 30 primary weapons and more than 20 Phantom Edges, taken from fallen foes, and you “dodge, deflect, counter, and strike in one seamless flow”. Its martial arts were choreographed by veterans of wuxia cinema and recorded with motion capture. The PlayStation Blog gives 25 Phantom Edges instead of more than 20; the two official counts are compared on our weapons page.

Donnie Yen is Phantom Blade Zero’s creative consultant and plays the character Mó Yuan through facial and motion capture.

Black Myth: Wukong is built around one weapon and magic. Besides staff techniques, you combine spells, abilities, weapons and equipment, and some spells counteract or amplify others.

Previews of Phantom Blade Zero call its combat fast. CGMagazine wrote that “the combat itself is faster than FromSoftware’s beloved Elden Ring and Dark Souls games”. How the Sha-Chi meter, parries and Killer Moves work is on our combat page.

Which game is longer, and is either open world?

Phantom Blade Zero’s director gives 25 to 30 hours if you don’t get stuck on bosses. It is an estimate given before release.

Before release, Game Science said Black Myth: Wukong would take “approximately 15+ hours to complete”. PCGamesN called that a major underestimate: its own run of the main story took 25 to 30 hours.

Neither game is open world. In the State of Play, S-GAME said “Phantom Blade Zero is not an open world game, nor is it a linear adventure from beginning to end.” Its 12 chapters run through nine regions, in the game’s own chapter table.

Black Myth: Wukong has six chapters. PCGamesN describes it as a linear, story-driven action game split into episodic chapters, each in a different location and each ending with a boss.

Which is harder? Difficulty settings compared

Phantom Blade Zero has four difficulty settings: Wayfarer, Pathbreaker, Hellwalker and 66 Days. Wayfarer is for players who want the story, and Hellwalker brings more advanced and adaptive enemies.

The State of Play presents 66 Days as the top level: “For the ultimate test, unlock Sixty-Six Days mode.” The menu describes it as “Hellwalker difficulty, with one added rule: you have only 66 lives. Unlocks after completing PATHBREAKER or HELLWALKER.”

Black Myth: Wukong has no difficulty setting. There is one difficulty, and you cannot lower or raise it.

No one can say yet which game is harder overall. Phantom Blade Zero comes out on 29 October; the reviews that went live on 26 October are on our reviews page.

Engine, PC specs and Steam Deck

Both games use Unreal Engine 5. S-GAME states it on Phantom Blade Zero’s store pages. Black Myth: Wukong was first shown on Unreal Engine 4; Game Science moved it to Unreal Engine 5 in 2021, NVIDIA reported at the time.

Valve rates Black Myth: Wukong Unsupported on Steam Deck, for graphics performance. Valve has not rated Phantom Blade Zero yet. GamingBolt reports the studio is looking to bring it to Steam Deck.

Both PlayStation listings say PS5 Pro Enhanced.

What have the two studios said about each other?

Before Black Myth: Wukong came out, Liang predicted it would succeed. He told GamesRadar+: “I think Black Myth: Wukong will be a big hit. There are more to come. I think they’ll all be very successful, and I think that’s the trend. It’s definitely the beginning.” He added that Phantom Blade Zero benefits from such games rather than competing with them.

After the launch, Liang spoke of the pressure it created. At GDC 2025 he told Eurogamer: “Everyone now realises there is potential for a Chinese-made game to make 30m copies in half a year.”

From the other side, Feng Ji, the producer of Black Myth: Wukong, shared Phantom Blade Zero’s July 2025 demo footage on WeChat. He wrote that it truly had the Gu Long-style feel of the martial world that he had in mind: dark, chaotic, cruel and romantic.

One consultant claims that Black Myth: Wukong’s success brought S-GAME substantial extra investment, citing two developers. He says Wukong did not by itself trigger all of the funding. S-GAME has not confirmed it.

Who might prefer which?

We do not score either game. Here is what the studios and press have said that bears on the choice.

• If you want a story modePhantom Blade Zero offers Wayfarer for players who want to enjoy the story; 66 Days is its hardest setting. Black Myth: Wukong has no difficulty setting.
• If you want Chinese myth or kung fu cinemaGame Science adapts Journey to the West; S-GAME mixes wuxia cinema with punk fantasy.
• If you want many weapons or many spellsPhantom Blade Zero lists over 30 primary weapons; Black Myth: Wukong centres on the staff plus spells and transformations.
• If you play on Xbox or Steam DeckBlack Myth: Wukong is on Xbox Series X|S; Phantom Blade Zero is not on any other console for at least 12 months after release. Neither is Steam Deck verified.
• If you want something to play nowBlack Myth: Wukong has been out since August 2024; Phantom Blade Zero unlocks on 29 October 2026.

What is not yet known

• How players rate Phantom Blade ZeroReviews went live on 26 October: Metacritic shows 88 on PC and PS5, OpenCritic a Top Critic Average of 91. Player reviews start at launch.
• Phantom Blade Zero install size on PS5Not announced. On PC S-GAME gives about 145 GB; a tracker account reports 134.857 GB on PS5, unconfirmed by S-GAME.
• Phantom Blade Zero on Steam DeckValve has not rated it.
• Phantom Blade Zero’s measured lengthOnly the director’s estimate before release.