Phantom Blade Zero’s foreign themes ‘an advantage rather than a barrier’ to global players, says dev
‘Phantom Blade Zero’s producer Liang Qiwei has insisted the game's foreign themes are "an advantage rather than a barrier" to global players and pointed to Chinese developer Game Science's 'Black Myth: Wukong' as proof that foreign titles can be majorly successful with a worldwide audience.
‘Phantom Blade Zero’s producer Liang Qiwei has insisted the game's foreign themes are “an advantage rather than a barrier” to global players.
The upcoming RPG - which is being developed by S-Game - has been described as having “kung-fu and martial arts as the core and clothing it in popular culture”, but the producer has now insisted these themes will not alienate western audiences and pointed to fellow Chinese studio Game Science’s ‘Black Myth: Wukong’ as proof that foreign concepts in gaming can still translate successfully to overseas audiences.
Speaking with 4Gamer, Qiwei - who is also known as Soulframe - said: “If we look at recent titles, 'Black Myth: Wukong' had a much higher hurdle to overcome than our game does in terms of culture as it's completely based on a classic Chinese work of literature.
“So [Game Science] may encounter this problem of players not understanding the cultural background.
“But in my opinion, the quality and playing experience of a game are its core. If you can achieve high quality and an entertaining playing experience, I think that a difficult theme can actually be an advantage, not a disadvantage. I
“If your game is entertaining, players will perceive unfamiliar themes as something fresh.”
The producer added Chinese gamers had become familiar with other cultures through foreign titles, and so hoped ‘Phantom Blade Zero’s “kung-fu punk” aesthetic would be “a very strong plus that draws in more players”.
He explained: “The reason we Chinese players know about Western and Japanese culture is because we had very entertaining Western and Japanese games as an entry point. We gradually became accustomed to them. I doubt Chinese players knew much about Japanese samurai at first, and I don’t think they were especially interested in them. But because there were so many good games about them, they’re now basically recognised as a pop theme.
“So, to repeat, if the game itself is interesting, the sense of its themes being foreign can be an advantage, rather than a barrier. I think it’s a very strong plus that draws in more players.”
