S-GAME

Overview

S-GAME is a Chinese game development studio headquartered in Shanghai, founded in 2011 by Soulframe Liang (Liang Qiwei). The studio is the creator of the Phantom Blade series and the developer of Phantom Blade Zero. From its origins as a four-person team producing Flash games, S-GAME has grown into a multi-office studio of approximately 140 developers working on one of the most anticipated action games in the global market.

Founding and early years

S-GAME was registered in 2011 by Liang Qiwei, who had already gained a cult following in the Chinese indie gaming community through his Rainblood Flash games. The studio began with just four people. Its name is deliberately minimal (a single letter and a word) reflecting Liang's belief that the games should speak for themselves rather than the studio's branding.

In its earliest years, S-GAME operated with this skeleton crew, developing mobile titles in the Phantom Blade universe. The team was small enough that Liang personally oversaw combat design, narrative writing, and art direction simultaneously. This hands-on approach established a studio culture where creative leadership is deeply involved in day-to-day development rather than managing from a distance.

Studio structure

As of 2025, S-GAME employs over 140 developers distributed across four offices:

The LA office was established specifically to support Phantom Blade Zero's console launch, reflecting the studio's shift from a domestic Chinese developer to a studio with global ambitions. Having a presence in North America allows S-GAME to engage directly with Western media, attend trade shows, and coordinate with platform partners like Sony and Valve.

Tencent investment

Tencent holds an approximately 25% stake in S-GAME, with the remainder held by the leadership team and studio members. This investment provided the capital needed to scale from mobile development to console-quality production without requiring S-GAME to seek a traditional publishing deal that might compromise creative control. The Tencent relationship is structured as a minority investment rather than an acquisition, meaning S-GAME retains full creative autonomy over its projects.

Liang has spoken publicly about the importance of maintaining independence despite the Tencent investment. He emphasizes that independence protects creativity through publishing, capital, and organizational control, preventing quarterly earnings pressure from dictating development decisions. The 25% stake gives Tencent a financial interest in S-GAME's success without giving it the controlling share needed to dictate creative choices.

Development philosophy

S-GAME deliberately avoids rapid scaling, preferring to grow carefully while maintaining creative control. Liang's stated target pace is one major title every four to five years, prioritizing quality and focus over release frequency. This stands in sharp contrast to the annual release cycles of many major studios and reflects a belief that great action games cannot be rushed.

The studio has also been deliberate about how it positions Phantom Blade Zero in the market. While the game is frequently compared to FromSoftware's Soulslike games, Liang has explicitly rejected the label, clarifying that PBZ is 'not a traditional Soulslike or a classic hack-and-slash title.' He describes the combat as 'like Ninja Gaiden,' designed for broader accessibility than genre conventions typically allow, with a focus on cinematic spectacle without sacrificing player accountability.

Evolution from Flash to console

S-GAME's development history follows a clear progression from small to large, from simple to complex, but always within the same creative universe. The studio began with the Rainblood Flash games (2009-2011), moved to mobile with Phantom Blade (2014) and Phantom Blade II (2016), built a live-service mobile game with Phantom Blade: Executioners (2019), and is now producing its first console and PC title with Phantom Blade Zero.

Each step in this progression represented a significant increase in scope, team size, and technical ambition. The Rainblood games were essentially one-person projects. The mobile Phantom Blade titles involved a team of about a dozen. Executioners required a live-service infrastructure and a team of several dozen. Phantom Blade Zero's development team of 140+ is an order of magnitude larger than the studio's original four-person size.

Creative identity

S-GAME's creative identity is built on martial arts authenticity. The studio does not treat combat as an abstract system of hitboxes and damage numbers but as an expression of real martial disciplines. This philosophy drives decisions like hiring actual martial arts practitioners for motion capture, consulting with action choreographers from the film industry, and ensuring that each weapon in the game reflects the fighting style of the real-world discipline it draws from.

This commitment to authenticity extends to the studio's approach to the wuxia genre. Rather than using wuxia as a superficial aesthetic, S-GAME treats the genre's literary traditions as source material to be engaged with seriously, subverted thoughtfully, and expanded through the Kung Fu Punk lens that defines their creative identity. Liang describes PBZ as 'a traditional kung fu story told with new clothes, new timing, and a global camera angle.'

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