Phantom Blade Zero Recasts Protagonist: Roger Craig Smith Takes Over as Soul

In the lead-up to launch, Phantom Blade Zero's protagonist Soul was voiced by rising actor Jay Maksenuk, known for his role as V in Once Human. However, as the game neared release, the role was recast. Now, Roger Craig Smith — famous for voicing Sonic the Hedgehog, Ezio Auditore, Batman, and Chris Redfield — steps in as Soul. You can hear his performance in the Phantom Blade Zero launch trailer below.

Smith is joined by Maggie Robertson, who plays Mu Xiaokui. Robertson is best known for her role as Lady Dimitrescu in Resident Evil 7. Additionally, Donnie Yen serves as a key creative consultant and stars as Mó Yuan, Soul's father, bringing the character to life through full facial, voice, and motion capture.

Maksenuk originally announced landing the role on Reddit and was listed as the game's protagonist on IMDb. However, the Reddit post has since been deleted, and IMDb no longer lists Phantom Blade Zero among his credits. IGN has reached out to both Maksenuk and Smith for comment.

Phantom Blade Zero is already shaping up to be a massive hit. On Steam, it has surpassed peak concurrent players of eternal favorites PUBG and Dota 2, and trails only Counter-Strike 2 as the most-played game. It's worth noting that the total peak player count will be even higher, as Phantom Blade Zero is also available on PS5 (Sony does not disclose player numbers). The game is also the top-selling title on Steam by revenue, ahead of Activision's Modern Warfare 4, Aion 2, and Probably Stolen, a Cyberpunk shopkeeper sim that's going viral.

IGN's Phantom Blade Zero review awarded it a 9/10, praising it as "an unbelievably smooth action game filled with memorable boss fights, compelling combat, and limitless swagger."

Before you dive into the Phantom World, we've compiled a helpful list of Things Phantom Blade Zero Doesn't Tell You. We also have a step-by-step Phantom Blade Zero Walkthrough in progress, along with guides for the game's Weapons, Accessories, and Phantom Edges.