Phantom Blade Zero hits 431K concurrent players on Steam after big launch

Phantom Blade Zero, the new wuxia action title from S-Game, has launched to an enormous audience on Steam. Within hours, the game reached a peak of 431,541 concurrent players according to SteamDB, placing it second on the platform behind only Counter-Strike 2. It also rose 16 places to lead Steam's global top sellers list, while early user reviews have settled at Mostly Positive.

Pre-launch momentum translated into early sales

While S-Game has not released official sales figures, analyst Rhys Elliott from Alinea Analytics estimates the game sold about 850,000 units for PC and PlayStation 5 combined before launch. Adding sales from Tencent WeGame in China, the total likely surpasses one million. Elliott previously tracked around 500,000 copies on Steam alone, including roughly 80,000 sold in the two days after reviews went live ahead of the 28th October release.

How it compares to Black Myth: Wukong

Even with this strong start, Phantom Blade Zero still trails the record-breaking performance of Black Myth: Wukong, another Chinese-developed action game. Wukong peaked at 2,415,714 simultaneous Steam players in 2024 and lifetime sales are estimated above 30 million units. Elliott does not expect Phantom Blade Zero to reach that level, but he forecasts robust sales through the rest of the year. Continued word of mouth could push the game past 500,000 peak concurrent players over the weekend.

Critical response and player sentiment

Eurogamer's Emma Kent wrote in her review that a lack of overall polish and boss fights that break the pacing dampened the experience, even though she enjoyed the core sword combat. Many Steam users seem more forgiving, judging by the Mostly Positive average at launch.

Players appear eager to dive into this stylish martial arts adventure. Do you think Phantom Blade Zero can sustain its early momentum, or will attention shift to other releases? Share your thoughts below.