This is what you call a launch with the wind at its back. Having won over the international press with an average of 88/100 on Metacritic (it started out at 91%) and some especially glowing reviews, Phantom Blade Zero has already chalked up a first commercial victory. S-Game's action title currently sits at the top of Steam's global best-sellers, ahead of Call of Duty Modern Warfare 4. And the funniest part of all this is that the game isn't even officially out yet. Two days before release, then, critical success looks to be turning into genuine enthusiasm among players.
A million pre-orders already?
According to estimates from Alinea Analytics, Phantom Blade Zero has already passed 850,000 copies sold in pre-orders across Steam and PS5. PC reportedly accounts for around 73.8% of those sales, against 26.2% for Sony's console. That would mean the game has generated close to $43 million in revenue before it has even officially launched. China and neighbouring markets play a major part in these results, with roughly 62.5% of copies sold on Steam and PS5 said to come from mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong, again according to Alinea Analytics' estimates. The share of those markets is reportedly particularly high on Steam, where they would account for nearly 76% of sales, while on PS5 the figure would be around 25%.
These figures don't take into account sales on WeGame, Tencent's PC platform, which is hugely popular in China. The real number of copies shifted could therefore be significantly higher than the available estimates — in other words, more than a million pre-sales at this stage. Alinea Analytics also reckons the game has sold over 80,000 additional copies since the review embargo lifted, a sign that the press reaction has helped build interest in the title.
A serious GOTY 2026 contender
Another sign of the recognition Phantom Blade Zero is already enjoying: S-Game's title is among the 12 nominees for the Ultimate Game of the Year award at the Golden Joystick Awards 2026, the top prize at the British ceremony. It's up against the likes of Resident Evil Requiem, Crimson Desert, Forza Horizon 6 and The Blood of Dawnwalker. But the Chinese studio's ambitions could stretch further still, since the game is also eligible for The Game Awards 2026, Geoff Keighley's ceremony, set for 10 December. The official nominations won't be revealed until mid-November, but with its 88/100 Metacritic average and a hugely enthusiastic press reception, Phantom Blade Zero has a strong case for muscling into the game of the year race. It remains to be seen whether The Game Awards jury will warm to this new Chinese production as much as players and critics have.
We'll obviously have to wait for official figures to gauge the true scale of its success, but the start looks promising. The title probably won't reach the dizzying numbers of Black Myth Wukong, which rode an exceptional commercial wave, but S-Game does seem to have found its audience. And this is only the beginning, since the game launches on 29 October on PS5 and PC, with no Xbox version announced at this stage.
