Over the past weekend, there was a nasty rumor that S-Game, the studio behind the upcoming hack-and-slash title that draws from Soulslikes for inspiration, Phantom Blade Zero, had dismissed the Xbox due to the “Nobody needs Xbox” comment from an unnamed developer at the company. This stemmed from a conversation that did or didn’t happen or could have been mistranslated during the 2024 China Joy gaming event, which was used in several articles on various outlets that didn’t bother to source the comment.
It’s kind of weird that we’d spread information from some unknown developer, or possibly a mistranslation, I’m happy to see the official Phantom Blade Zero Twitter (don’t call it X) account pushed back, stating this wasn’t true at all. In the tweet, S-Game mentioned the following;
Recently, we noticed that some media outlets have claimed to have interviewed an unnamed developer from S-GAME at Chinajoy, who seems to have made some statements regarding the release platforms and strategy for Phantom Blade Zero.
We want to clarify that these claimed statements do not represent S-GAME’s values or culture, as we believe in making our game accessible to everyone and have not ruled out any platforms for Phantom Blade Zero. We are hard at work on both the development and publishing fronts to ensure that as many players as possible can enjoy our game at release and in the future.
Our team is looking forward to sharing more development updates soon, and we are excited to bring our world premiere demo to Gamescom this month!
While I’m glad that S-Game made this comment and solidified what I have been telling people in the echo chamber that is Twitter, and several websites, I feel the damage has been done. Xbox isn’t in the best position right now, and the decisions made by the company haven’t instilled confidence in many gamers. Still, this doesn’t give anyone the right to do what they did, only to pour fuel on the ongoing and quite stupid console wars fire. Or in other spaces, having Xbox fans feeling scoured, suddenly dunking on a game that they had much interest in.
Xbox has historically struggled in the Asian gaming market. The region has consistently shown a preference for domestically created platforms, with little interest in American-made gaming systems. A quick look at gaming history confirms this trend. However, this isn’t about that challenge—it’s about the ongoing issue of misinformation in gaming journalism.
Some outlets and individuals continue to publish unsourced claims to drive clicks and traffic, a practice that has frustrated many gamers and tarnished the reputation of the industry. This behavior is one of the reasons people have grown disillusioned with gaming journalism. Unfortunately, the pursuit of attention often causes more harm than good to the community.
In terms of accurate reporting, I had the opportunity to speak with the team behind Phantom Blade Zero during the 2024 Summer Game Fest. When asked about an Xbox version of the game, they stated that PlayStation 5 and PC are their current priorities. While they didn’t rule out an Xbox release, it seems they want to evaluate the game’s performance on its initial platforms before making any further decisions. This is neither a confirmation nor a denial of an eventual Xbox version—only time will tell if Phantom Blade Zero will appear on that platform.
As for Phantom Blade Zero, I did a write-up about my hands-on experience at Summer Game Fest. So give that a read if you’re curious about what I thought about the game.
