Following The Game Awards 2025, Phantom Blade Zero director Soulframe Liang has shared some of the advice he received from the team at Sandfall Interactive, the developer of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Talking to members of the studio after their meteoric sweep of awards, their key advice Liang got is to “cut things” and “polish the rest.”
Set to launch in September 2026, Phantom Blade Zero is one of the next big-budget games to be developed in China, following a slew of hits from the country like Black Myth: Wukong, Wuchang: Fallen Feathers, and Where Winds Meet. Early impressions of the game are positive, and there’s a good chance we will see it appear at next year’s show.
Following the award show, Liang got the chance to swap notes with the multi-award-winning team. “Pressure is good,” Liang tells GamesRadar+, “I talked with the team behind Expedition 33, they had a lot of trophies last night.”
However, the advice Liang received was probably not what he was expecting. “One of the most important and interesting things they told us was that for the last nine months, the most important thing is to delete things. To cut things [from the game] and to polish the rest.”
Delete your art might be a meme among the creative industry, but it’s one for a reason. Restrictions often lead to greater creativity and, eventually, a tighter, better-crafted product. It seems Liang agrees. “So yeah, it’s a good idea,” he continues. “And I will take that advice.”