Article: Kung Fu Punk - How S-Game is using Wuxia, martial arts mocap, and a player-first mindset to create its first triple-A game, Phantom Blade Zero by Wesley LeBlanc

After a long 25-hour day of flights from Florida to China, I finally arrive at Beijing Capital International Airport. I’m met with the hospitality and cordiality at Customs, though it’s immediately clear the language barrier might cause an issue. Instead of sticking to the more casual, “I’m here for business” line I typically employ on work trips, I have to transition to something more explanatory. So I explain I work for the world’s greatest video game magazine and am in Beijing to check out a game called Phantom Blade Zero.

Customs isn’t quite sure what all that means, if their facial expressions were any indication, so I try further explaining what I’m in China to do. As I’m frantically pulling up YouTube trailers of Phantom Blade Zero to show customs the game, the agent working with me radios a coworker to come over. “He plays games,” the agent tells me. When he arrives, I tell him the name of the game. As I begin to lift my phone to show him trailers, I notice a big smile on his face. Thank goodness – he knows about Phantom Blade Zero. Though I don’t speak Mandarin, it’s clear he expressed his excitement for the game to his non-gamer coworker, and I’m quickly let through moments after. Success.