0:00
Both are wuxia games from China, sharing
0:02
martial arts and wuxia culture as their
0:04
core focus. But why has Phantom Blade
0:06
Zero generated massive revenue in just 5
0:08
days, far surpassing the figures
0:09
Wuthering Waves earned after nearly a
0:11
year of international release?
0:13
On one side is a pay-to-play game, on
0:15
the other a free-to-play title with tens
0:17
of millions of players worldwide. Sounds
0:19
illogical, doesn't it? But looking at
0:21
the latest revenue data, the story is
0:23
much more surprising.
0:30
First, let's talk about Phantom Blade
0:32
Zero, the action RPG developed by S-Game
0:35
that officially launched on October 29,
0:37
2024, on PC and PlayStation 5. Unlike
0:40
Wuthering Waves, Phantom Blade Zero is a
0:42
single-player game that requires players
0:43
to purchase a license before playing.
0:45
However, that didn't stop the
0:47
community's purchasing power.
0:50
According to a report published by Alena
0:53
Analytics on November 3, just 5 days
0:55
after release, Phantom Blade Zero sold
0:57
about 4.3 million copies, bringing in an
0:59
estimated $ 223 million on Steam and
1:03
Of that, Steam contributed about 3.1
1:05
million copies, while PlayStation
1:07
accounted for 1.2 million. Just imagine
1:09
, $ 223 million in less than a week
1:11
after opening for sale. A truly
1:13
staggering figure for a newly released
1:15
game. Now, something even more
1:17
noteworthy lies in the international
1:18
situation. Many might think a game
1:20
steeped in Chinese wuxia like Phantom
1:22
Blade Zero would surely depend heavily
1:23
on Chinese gamers. But in reality, that
1:25
is not entirely the case. According to
1:27
Alena Analytics, if we look specifically
1:29
at China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, these
1:30
three regions contributed about $ 100
1:32
million, equivalent to 45%of the total
1:34
revenue. Meanwhile, markets outside
1:35
these three regions brought in about $
1:37
123 million, accounting for 55%. This
1:39
means the domestic and international
1:40
revenue for Phantom Blade Zero is
1:42
relatively balanced. In fact, markets
1:43
outside of China contributed even more
1:45
money. This is highly remarkable for a
1:47
game centered on the theme of Chinese
1:51
So, what about Wuthering Waves? The
1:53
title developed by Everstone Studio and
1:55
published by Net officially launched
1:56
internationally in November 2025,
1:58
meaning it has now been nearly a full
2:00
Unlike Phantom Blade Zero, Wuthering
2:02
Waves was released completely
2:03
free-to-play across multiple platforms,
2:05
from PC and console to mobile. With the
2:07
advantage of not needing to purchase the
2:08
game, Wuthering Waves has attracted an
2:09
extremely massive player base. However,
2:11
a large number of players does not mean
2:13
that all of them are spending money.
2:15
According to Magic statistics published
2:17
by Pocket Gamer in June 2026, the mobile
2:19
version alone outside of China brought
2:21
in about 22.1 million US dollars in the
2:23
first 6 months. If we add PC and console
2:26
revenue, the total international revenue
2:27
would certainly be higher. Let’s assume
2:29
for now that all global versions across
2:31
platforms earned about 30 to 40 million
2:33
US dollars, although there is no
2:34
complete data yet to confirm this level
2:36
. If placed against the 223 million US
2:38
dollars of Phantom Blade Zero, the gap
2:39
would be over 5 times. And even if we
2:41
only take the 123 million USD that
2:43
Phantom Blade Zero earned in markets
2:44
outside of China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan
2:46
, this figure is still much larger than
2:48
the assumed global revenue of Wuthering
2:53
But wait a second, if we only look at
2:55
the numbers above and conclude that
2:57
Phantom Blade Zero has defeated
2:58
Wuthering Waves, we may have forgotten
3:00
one extremely important thing: the
3:03
Wuthering Waves was actually released in
3:04
China at the end of December 2024,
3:06
nearly a year earlier than the
3:07
international version, and this is the
3:08
market that provides an extremely
3:10
important revenue source for the game.
3:12
>> According to AppMagic, the cumulative
3:14
global mobile revenue for Wuthering
3:16
Waves alone reached approximately 223.7
3:18
million USD by mid-June 2026, with the
3:20
majority coming from China. Notably,
3:22
Goldman Sachs once forecasted that
3:23
Wuthering Waves could bring in about 570
3:25
million USD in its first 12 months,
3:26
calculated across PC and mobile. If
3:28
rounded, that is a revenue scale of
3:30
nearly 600 million USD.
3:32
Of course, this is a forecast by
3:34
analysts, not an actual revenue report
3:36
confirmed by Net. But those figures are
3:38
enough to show one thing: if we include
3:40
the Chinese market, Wuthering Waves is
3:41
by no means a low-revenue game. And this
3:43
is the biggest difference between the
3:45
two titles. Wuthering Waves has revenue
3:47
highly concentrated in the Chinese
3:48
market, while Phantom Blade Zero is
3:50
demonstrating a relatively balanced
3:51
commercial appeal between domestic and
3:53
international markets.
3:55
But the story doesn't stop there because
3:57
these two games possess completely
3:59
different business models.
4:00
Phantom Blade Zero is a single-player,
4:03
buy-to-play game. When a blockbuster
4:04
game is released, millions of
4:06
long-awaiting gamers will all buy it at
4:08
once. Because of this, revenue can
4:10
explode intensely in the first few days
4:12
. But after the launch phase, sales
4:14
speed usually slows down. Of course,
4:16
Phantom Blade Zero can still continue to
4:18
earn money from later buyers, sales
4:20
events, or expansions if developed.
4:24
Meanwhile, Wuthering Waves chooses a
4:26
completely different path. The game is
4:28
free for everyone. It offers cosmetics,
4:30
battle passes, and decorative items for
4:32
players to voluntarily spend money on.
4:34
You buy an outfit today, next month a
4:35
better one appears, and the following
4:37
month there are even more new cosmetics
4:39
. You can still play without buying, but
4:41
if you love customizing your character,
4:43
your wallet might find it hard to stay
4:47
To put it funnily, Phantom Blade Zero
4:48
sells tickets for you to enter the
4:50
martial arts world. While Wuthering
4:52
Waves lets you in for free, but if you
4:53
want to dress like a hero, you have to
4:57
And that is the advantage of the
5:01
A game like Wuthering Waves can continue
5:03
to generate revenue month after month,
5:05
year after year, as long as the
5:06
publisher maintains the player base and
5:08
continuously develops content. However,
5:10
this model also has its downsides. They
5:13
must constantly update the game,
5:14
maintain servers, organize events, and
5:16
pay operating costs. If players leave,
5:19
revenue can also decline.
5:22
Conversely, Phantom Blade Zero can
5:23
recoup a large amount of revenue right
5:25
from the start, but that doesn't mean it
5:27
won't make money afterward. Therefore, $
5:29
223 million in just 5 days is an
5:30
extremely impressive commercial
5:32
achievement for Phantom Blade Zero. But
5:34
it cannot yet decide which game will
5:35
earn more money in the long run.
5:37
On one side is a single-player game,
5:39
exploding in revenue right at launch. On
5:41
the other is a free-to-play game,
5:42
seeking to accumulate revenue
5:44
continuously over many years. Will Phan
5:45
Thuc L Zero continue to hold the
5:47
advantage after 3 or 5 years, or will Ww
5:48
Smith quietly pull ahead thanks to
5:50
revenue from millions of players? The
5:52
answer for now remains a question mark.
5:55
What do you guys think? In your opinion
5:56
, which title will earn more money after
5:58
5 years? Phan Thuc L Zero or Wwing Smith
6:01
? Leave your thoughts in the comment
