Revision 3

Engine

Phantom Blade Zero runs on Unreal Engine 5. The concept phase (2017-2022) was handled by a small 2-3 person team; active development began in early 2022. S-GAME takes a deliberately selective approach to UE5's features, prioritizing performance and visual quality over adopting every flagship technology.

UE5 feature usage

Digital Foundry's hands-on analysis revealed a nuanced picture of which UE5 technologies the game actually uses:

• Nanite: reports vary between builds. One outlet (Noisy Pixel) reported Nanite being used to "maintain high-quality assets while preserving framerate." However, Digital Foundry found no evidence of Nanite in the build they tested. This may reflect different demo builds at different events

• Lumen: similarly inconsistent reports. Noisy Pixel reported Lumen creating "a gloomy and foggy atmosphere," while Digital Foundry found the game using baked lighting with limited ray-traced shadows rather than full Lumen global illumination

• Virtual Shadow Maps: not used, according to Digital Foundry's analysis

These discrepancies likely reflect evolving builds rather than conflicting information. The game's rendering pipeline may have changed between demonstration events.

Ray tracing

Hardware ray tracing is confirmed for both PS5 and PC. Ray-traced shadows and reflections are used selectively, primarily in puddles and water surfaces rather than across all materials. S-GAME received technical support from both AMD and NVIDIA for their hardware ray tracing implementation.

DLSS 4 and PC features

The PC version launches with day-one DLSS 4 with Multi Frame Generation support. This includes ray-traced reflections, ray-traced shadows, and ray-traced caustics. NVIDIA announced this at CES 2026. The combination of DLSS upscaling and frame generation should help maintain high framerates even with ray tracing enabled on supported hardware.

PS5 performance targets

• Standard PS5: target modes of 2K resolution at 60fps and 4K at 30fps. The aspirational target is 4K at 60fps, or at least stable 45-50fps

• PS5 Pro: confirmed enhanced visuals with upgrades to textures, models, and lighting. Hands-on sessions at Summer Game Fest 2025 and Gamescom 2025 ran on PS5 Pro hardware

DRM

The PC version uses Denuvo Anti-Tamper DRM, listed on both the Steam and Epic Games Store pages.

Developer philosophy

Soulframe Liang described the studio's approach as "adopt the most traditional game design approach, avoiding automated mass production." Combat segments are described as "handcrafted" and "thoughtfully" designed. The selective use of UE5 features reflects this philosophy: the team uses specific technologies where they serve the game's visual goals rather than enabling every available option for marketing purposes.