There is no Chinese GTA, veteran dev says, but Black Myth: Wukong was the starting shot for a stampede of AAA games made in China: “We have to make the games ever better”
By Ashley Bardhan
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Phantom Blade Zero
There is no Chinese GTA, veteran dev says, but Black Myth: Wukong was the starting shot for a stampede of AAA games made in China: “We have to make the games ever better”
Ashley Bardhan
15 September 2025
What about AAAA games?
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(Image credit: Sony / S-Game)
Not every game can be Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto, and for good reason. I’m pretty sure the Earth’s core would crack under the weight of multiple mega-releases like GTA 6. But if those games represent the glorious peak of AAA gaming, Phantom Blade Zero director Qiwai “Soulframe” Liang says developers in his native China at least want to start climbing.
“All the focus [in China] is on making AAA games,” S-GAME studio founder Liang tells PC Gamer in the newest print edition of its magazine. “You can see a lot are coming. It’s different.”
“For Americans,” Liang continues, gleaming AAA titles are “not a new concept, because you guys are making huge games. GTA or something like that is quite familiar.” He suggests that China’s current equivalent to a game as imposing as GTA is the 2024, mythological action RPG Black Myth: Wukong – which apparently earned back its $43 million budget in mere weeks.
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GTA 6 apparently pushes us beyond AAA and into “AAAAA” territory, industry veteran claims: “It’s just bigger than anything else”
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“Many people are making games for money, but we make money for games”: CEO says all the studio’s releases were stepping stones to the “end goal” of its big kung fu action RPG
“I think there’s a pride for the gamers who played Black Myth,” Liang says, “because they feel: we can make such a game. So we are careful as Chinese developers to fulfil the requirements, they hype the Chinese gamers. We have to make the games ever better.”
Though Liang – whose wuxia ARPG Phantom Blade Zero has been in development for about three years now, and does not yet have a release date – seems to think it’ll take time before these games can compete with big international budgets.
“I would say for most, the quality is still your basement, your foundation,” he says. This is why, again, “Making the games better is very important.”
“Many people are making games for money, but we make money for games”: CEO says all the studio’s releases were stepping stones to the “end goal” of its big kung fu action RPG.
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Ashley Bardhan
Senior Writer
Ashley is a Senior Writer at GamesRadar+. She’s been a staff writer at Kotaku and Inverse, too, and she’s written freelance pieces about horror and women in games for sites like Rolling Stone, Vulture, IGN, and Polygon. When she’s not covering gaming news, she’s usually working on expanding her doll collection while watching Saw movies one through 11.
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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 leads predict rise in “AA-class games” as production costs reach ridiculous heights, say only GTA 6 maker Rockstar “is able to meet that demand”
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NetEase’s first AAA single-player game is packed with brutal action and gorgeous cinematics in a promising blend fans say looks “like a Tang Dynasty take on Uncharted”
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is “a strong signal” that players don’t just want live-service games, BioWare veteran says, but GTA 6’s success will be a real indicator of the industry
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