{"id":1986566,"date":"2026-06-12T13:58:54","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T10:58:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1986566"},"modified":"2026-06-12T13:58:54","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T10:58:54","slug":"while-other-games-try-to-avoid-gta-6-phantom-blade-zero-has-changed-its-release-date-to-move-closer-to-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1986566","title":{"rendered":"While other games try to avoid GTA 6, Phantom Blade Zero has changed its release date to move closer to it"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"article \" data-ads=\"true\" data-article-type=\"news\" data-article-group=\"news\" data-paywalled=\"false\" data-premium=\"false\" data-sponsored=\"false\" data-type=\"article\">\n<header class=\"article_header\" data-component=\"article-header\">\n<div class=\"breadcrumbs\">\n<nav class=\"nav_breadcrumbs\" data-component=\"nav-breadcrumbs\" aria-label=\"Breadcrumb\">\n<ul class=\"nav-links\">\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      Home<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/news\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      News<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/nav><\/div>\n<div class=\"headline_details\" id=\"main-content\">\n<h1 class=\"title\">While other games try to avoid GTA 6, Phantom Blade Zero has changed its release date to move closer to it<\/h1>\n<p class=\"strapline\">S-move.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"headline_asset\">\n<figure class=\"headline_image_wrapper\">\n<p>        <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"headline_image\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/phantom-blade-zero-blog_header.png?width=570&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;dpr=3&amp;auto=webp\" alt=\"Screenshot of Phantom Blade Zero showing protagonist warrior from behind holding sword behind his back\" loading=\"eager\" data-uri=\"phantom-blade-zero-blog_header.png\" data-lightbox width=\"570\" height=\"321\"><figcaption>\n          <span class=\"attribution\">Image credit: <cite>S-Game<\/cite><\/span><br \/>\n        <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"metadata\">\n<div class=\"avatar\">\n<p>    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Sherif Saed avatar\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/IMG_1950_Uy1XomJ.JPG?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"1638\" height=\"1346\"><\/p>\n<p>  <img alt=\"Sherif Saed avatar\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-uri=\"IMG_1950_Uy1XomJ.JPG\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"1638\" height=\"1346\">\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text\">\n<div class=\"byline\">\n                  <span class=\"article_type\" data-slug=\"news\"><br \/>\n                    News<br \/>\n                  <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"by\">by<\/span> <span class=\"author\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/authors\/sherif-saed\">Sherif Saed<\/a><\/span>                    <span class=\"job_title\"><br \/>\n                      Contributor<br \/>\n                    <\/span>\n            <\/div>\n<div class=\"published_at\">\nPublished on <time datetime=\"2026-06-12T13:58:54+00:00\">June 12, 2026<\/time>              <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"mypop-header-wrapper\">\n<p><button class=\"mypop-button button wide\" data-state=\"follow\" data-type=\"tag\" data-uuid=\"7685df9e-22e2-4b0e-a893-03c1781df5f1\" data-name=\"Grand Theft Auto VI\" data-follow-text=\"Follow Grand Theft Auto VI\" data-unfollow-text=\"Following Grand Theft Auto VI\" data-aria-follow-text=\"Follow Grand Theft Auto VI\" data-aria-unfollow-text=\"Following Grand Theft Auto VI\" data-popup=\"true\" data-force-login=\"true\" aria-label=\"Follow Grand Theft Auto VI\" title=\"Follow Grand Theft Auto VI\"><br \/>\n  Follow Grand Theft Auto VI<br \/>\n<\/button>          <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"article_body\" data-component=\"article-content\">\n<div class=\"article_body_content article-styling\">\n<p>Wuxia-inspired action game <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/phantom-blade-zero-clocks-up-over-1-million-wishlists-in-just-2-weeks\">Phantom Blade Zero is arguably one of the most anticipated games of 2026,<\/a> but no game is as anticipated as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/gta-6-everything-we-know-so-far-9357\">Grand Theft Auto 6<\/a>, as the many calendar shuffles to avoid November have shown. So it was particularly surprising to see Phantom Blade Zero given a release date during <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/everything-announced-sonys-playstation-state-of-play-june-2026\">June&#8217;s State of Play showcase<\/a> that moved it closer to Rockstar&#8217;s game than most are willing to get.<\/p>\n<p>In fact, Phantom Blade Zero developer S-Game moved the release date back from its previously-announced 9th September date to 29th October. This puts it just three weeks away from GTA 6&#8217;s 19th November release date.<\/p>\n<p>But ask the developers at S-Game how bothered they are about clashing with GTA 6, however, and they&#8217;d say they aren&#8217;t especially bothered at all. Speaking to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/gaming-industry\/phantom-blade-zero-devs-couldnt-care-less-about-releasing-near-gta-6-we-dont-even-think-of-the-competition-what-matters-is-how-polished-the-game-is\/\">PC Gamer<\/a>, game director Qiwei &#8220;Soulframe&#8221; Liang said: &#8220;Many people may think we have some marketing strategy to move it from the overcrowded September, and some are very worried that it&#8217;s closer to November.&#8221; &#8220;We don&#8217;t think about any of this. We only think of the quality of the product itself.&#8221;<\/p>\n<figure>\n<div class=\"video_wrapper youtube\">\n<a aria-label=\"Phantom Blade Zero - Official Teaser Trailer | State of Play 2026\" class=\"video-facade full-size\" data-platform=\"youtube\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/XnKM3cXBD3M?autoplay=1\" title=\"Click to play video from YouTube\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Cover image for YouTube video\" class=\"video-facade__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/XnKM3cXBD3M\/hqdefault.jpg\"><span class=\"video-facade__title\">Phantom Blade Zero &#8211; Official Teaser Trailer | State of Play 2026<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/a>\n<\/div>\n<p><a class=\"button video\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=XnKM3cXBD3M\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Watch on YouTube<\/a><\/figure>\n<p>Liang said he doesn&#8217;t believe competition has much of an impact on the success of one&#8217;s work, adding that &#8220;only the product itself matters. So I would say 99 percent of the decision [was about] development.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Phantom Blade Zero isn&#8217;t in the same genre as GTA 6, but the same is also true for the many other games trying to avoid it. Phantom Blade is a Soulslike action RPG with flashy melee combat, so it&#8217;s not competing with GTA there. Their worry, however, is that such an incredibly high profile release will suck all of the air out of the room as everyone clamours to talk about it and play it, and that nobody else will be noticed.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>This is why the September-October release window suddenly has more game releases squashed next to each other than we may have ever seen during that period. As the release date announcements kept piling up at Summer Game Fest, it became clear that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/gta-6-release-date-black-hole\">there&#8217;s a GTA 6-shaped black hole in the release calendar<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/phantom-blade-zero-gameplay-screen-3.jpg?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1.7777777777777777\" width=\"1920\"><\/p>\n<p><img alt data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-lightbox data-uri=\"phantom-blade-zero-gameplay-screen-3.jpg\" height=\"1080\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1.7777777777777777\" width=\"1920\"><figcaption><span class=\"attribution\">Image credit: <cite>S-Game.<\/cite><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>For the Phantom Blade Zero director, however, GTA 6 isn&#8217;t the boogyman we&#8217;ve perhaps come to see it as. &#8220;I have no idea, actually,&#8221; Liang said, when asked whether it was scary to release so close to GTA 6.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;What matters is how polished the game is, and if we have one or two extra months, we can fix more bugs, do more optimisations, so that we don&#8217;t need a huge day one patch.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Of course, releasing so many games so close to each other presents its own and not dissimilar challenges. We&#8217;re already starting to see games get delayed to avoid the crowded period. This week the release date of first-person Soulslike <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/valor-mortis-new-release-date\">Valor Mortis got pushed back<\/a>, moving to 13th October from 24th September. And the previous date was only only announced the week prior to Summer Game Fest.<\/p>\n<p>Looking ahead, Phantom Blade Zero is set to receive a dedicated PlayStation State of Play showcase later this summer, which will offer 15-20 minutes of new footage. The game officially arrives 29th October on PC and PS5.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"preferred-source\" data-component=\"preferred-source\">\nLove Eurogamer.net? Make us a <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\">Preferred Source on Google<\/a> and catch more of our coverage in your feeds.  <\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"article_body\" data-component=\"article-content\">\n<div class=\"article_body_content article-styling\">\n<p>Wuxia-inspired action game <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/phantom-blade-zero-clocks-up-over-1-million-wishlists-in-just-2-weeks\">Phantom Blade Zero is arguably one of the most anticipated games of 2026,<\/a> but no game is as anticipated as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/gta-6-everything-we-know-so-far-9357\">Grand Theft Auto 6<\/a>, as the many calendar shuffles to avoid November have shown. So it was particularly surprising to see Phantom Blade Zero given a release date during <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/everything-announced-sonys-playstation-state-of-play-june-2026\">June&#8217;s State of Play showcase<\/a> that moved it closer to Rockstar&#8217;s game than most are willing to get.<\/p>\n<p>In fact, Phantom Blade Zero developer S-Game moved the release date back from its previously-announced 9th September date to 29th October. This puts it just three weeks away from GTA 6&#8217;s 19th November release date.<\/p>\n<p>But ask the developers at S-Game how bothered they are about clashing with GTA 6, however, and they&#8217;d say they aren&#8217;t especially bothered at all. Speaking to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/gaming-industry\/phantom-blade-zero-devs-couldnt-care-less-about-releasing-near-gta-6-we-dont-even-think-of-the-competition-what-matters-is-how-polished-the-game-is\/\">PC Gamer<\/a>, game director Qiwei &#8220;Soulframe&#8221; Liang said: &#8220;Many people may think we have some marketing strategy to move it from the overcrowded September, and some are very worried that it&#8217;s closer to November.&#8221; &#8220;We don&#8217;t think about any of this. We only think of the quality of the product itself.&#8221;<\/p>\n<figure>\n<div class=\"video_wrapper youtube\">\n<a aria-label=\"Phantom Blade Zero - Official Teaser Trailer | State of Play 2026\" class=\"video-facade full-size\" data-platform=\"youtube\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/XnKM3cXBD3M?autoplay=1\" title=\"Click to play video from YouTube\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Cover image for YouTube video\" class=\"video-facade__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/XnKM3cXBD3M\/hqdefault.jpg\"><span class=\"video-facade__title\">Phantom Blade Zero &#8211; Official Teaser Trailer | State of Play 2026<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/a>\n<\/div>\n<p><a class=\"button video\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=XnKM3cXBD3M\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Watch on YouTube<\/a><\/figure>\n<p>Liang said he doesn&#8217;t believe competition has much of an impact on the success of one&#8217;s work, adding that &#8220;only the product itself matters. So I would say 99 percent of the decision [was about] development.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Phantom Blade Zero isn&#8217;t in the same genre as GTA 6, but the same is also true for the many other games trying to avoid it. Phantom Blade is a Soulslike action RPG with flashy melee combat, so it&#8217;s not competing with GTA there. Their worry, however, is that such an incredibly high profile release will suck all of the air out of the room as everyone clamours to talk about it and play it, and that nobody else will be noticed.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>This is why the September-October release window suddenly has more game releases squashed next to each other than we may have ever seen during that period. As the release date announcements kept piling up at Summer Game Fest, it became clear that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/gta-6-release-date-black-hole\">there&#8217;s a GTA 6-shaped black hole in the release calendar<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/phantom-blade-zero-gameplay-screen-3.jpg?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1.7777777777777777\" width=\"1920\"><\/p>\n<p><img alt data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-lightbox data-uri=\"phantom-blade-zero-gameplay-screen-3.jpg\" height=\"1080\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1.7777777777777777\" width=\"1920\"><figcaption><span class=\"attribution\">Image credit: <cite>S-Game.<\/cite><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>For the Phantom Blade Zero director, however, GTA 6 isn&#8217;t the boogyman we&#8217;ve perhaps come to see it as. &#8220;I have no idea, actually,&#8221; Liang said, when asked whether it was scary to release so close to GTA 6.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;What matters is how polished the game is, and if we have one or two extra months, we can fix more bugs, do more optimisations, so that we don&#8217;t need a huge day one patch.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Of course, releasing so many games so close to each other presents its own and not dissimilar challenges. We&#8217;re already starting to see games get delayed to avoid the crowded period. This week the release date of first-person Soulslike <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/valor-mortis-new-release-date\">Valor Mortis got pushed back<\/a>, moving to 13th October from 24th September. And the previous date was only only announced the week prior to Summer Game Fest.<\/p>\n<p>Looking ahead, Phantom Blade Zero is set to receive a dedicated PlayStation State of Play showcase later this summer, which will offer 15-20 minutes of new footage. The game officially arrives 29th October on PC and PS5.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Home News While other games try to avoid GTA 6, Phantom Blade Zero has changed its release date to move closer to it S-move. Image credit: S-Game News by Sherif Saed Contributor Published on June 12, 2026 Follow Grand Theft Auto VI Wuxia-inspired action game Phantom Blade Zero is arguably one of the most anticipated [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,253],"class_list":["post-1986566","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-eurogamer-net"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1986566","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1986566"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1986566\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1986566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1986566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1986566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}