Donnie Yen and 20+ Kung Fu Masters Made Phantom Blade Zero's Fights

Did Donnie Yen just lend his name to Phantom Blade Zero? Some Chinese players say so. Some English coverage says he and his team did all of the motion capture. Neither is true. This is how the fights were really made, from S-GAME's own words, the two Xinhua documentaries made with S-GAME, the State of Play deep dive and this October's previews. The plan that changed between 2023 and 2024, the masters at Emei, Shaolin and a Shenzhen lion dance troupe, the lion dance boss with two men inside, the capture studio in Shanghai and its combat director Yang Liu, Donnie Yen's crew led by Yan Hua, and the baby on the blade. In my video on the films and books behind Phantom Blade Zero I said how they made the fights was a story for its own video. This is that video, and the films and books one is here    • Wuxia Explained: What Western Players Will...   More on Phantom Blade Zero The films and books behind it    • Wuxia Explained: What Western Players Will...   What China really thinks of it    • What China Really Thinks of Phantom Blade ...   Its closest relative is Khazan    • Phantom Blade Zero vs Wukong, Sekiro, Nioh...   How its combat actually works    • Phantom Blade Zero Isn't Sekiro: How Its C...   Everything we know before launch    • Phantom Blade Zero: Everything We Know Bef...   The previews are in    • Phantom Blade Zero: The Previews Are In   The lore, the 18-year story behind Soul    • Phantom Blade Zero Lore Explained: The 18-...   Chapters 0:00 Cold open 1:07 The first plan 2:28 Into the mountains 4:56 The lion with blades inside 7:14 Inside the studio 10:52 Donnie's crew 14:09 The baby on the blade 15:18 The answer Phantom Blade Zero launches 29 October 2026 on PS5 and PC (28 October in North America). Sources S-GAME's own words (the 2023 reveal text, the ChinaJoy 2024 team panel, its post of April 2026, What exactly is Wuxia?, the official site). Soulframe Liang on the PlayStation Blog (May 2023), in his posts of December 2025 (via GamerSky) and 17 August 2026 (via 3DM), and in his interviews with DualShockers, RPGamer, PCGamesN, IGN, the Epic Games Store and the 核电波 podcast (EP.29, December 2025). Will Chen to RPGamer. The Xinhua x S-GAME documentaries 从传统走向世界 (January 2025) and 武侠先锋《影之刃零》的全球探索之路 (February 2026). Reports and previews from AUTOMATON, TheGamer, Polygon, PlayStation Access and GamerSky (October 2026), Game8 (8 October 2026). The boss names from the State of Play deep dive (August 2026). Donnie Yen in his own words from his official behind the scenes video (August 2026). The drunken boss demo as two creators who were there remember it, 尚在天国EX and 糖七 on Bilibili. Film facts from Wikipedia and the sources it cites. Chinese on screen is quoted from the source and the English under it is our translation. Liang's own words carry his name and source on screen, a creator's memory is marked as one, and what we could not find on the record is marked NOT ON RECORD. Footage Official S-GAME and PlayStation footage (the State of Play deep dive, the pre-order, release date and 2023 announce trailers, the Year of the Snake gameplay trailer, What exactly is Wuxia?), Donnie Yen's official behind the scenes video, and the Xinhua x S-GAME documentary of January 2025, credited on screen with Xinhua's watermark and subtitles cropped. IGN's documentary is quoted, not shown. Older builds are tagged on screen. Film posters via Wikipedia (non-free), shown for criticism and review. #PhantomBladeZero #影之刃零 #DonnieYen