How big is the Phantom Blade Zero day-one patch?

About 5 GB, and it is downloadable now. S-GAME's creative director announced the figure in his launch letter on October 28, 2026, alongside two specific claims: the update significantly improves ray tracing and path tracing performance, and it carries several bug fixes.

Last checked: October 29, 2026 — the game is live and the patch has shipped with it.

Detail What the developer states
Size Approximately 5 GB
Main performance change Ray tracing and path tracing improvements
Other changes Several bug fixes, unspecified
Platform breakdown Not given — one figure covers the announcement
Changelog Not published in the letter

5 GB is small for a modern patch, which tells you something useful: this is a targeted optimisation pass on the RT and path-tracing paths, not a content drop or an asset re-download. If your first session is planned around maximum visual settings, this is the update that matters.

What is the install order on launch day?

The order matters, and it depends on one thing — whether you preloaded.

Your situation What to do before the unlock
Preloaded the game Download and install the 5 GB patch, then launch. The preloaded build is not the patched build.
Did not preload Buy and download as normal — the client delivers the latest version, patch included.
Preloaded, then moved the install Verify files in your client before launching, then confirm the patch is present.
Physical or console disc Console patches usually apply on first launch; accept the update prompt before playing.

S-GAME's wording is explicit on the first row: if you have already preloaded, "please download and install the update before launching." A preload that looks complete in your library can still be a patch behind.

Timing helps here. The preload window opened on October 27 at 02:00 UTC (October 26, 7:00 PM PDT), and the unlock lands at October 29, 02:00 UTC — the evening of October 28 in the Americas. That leaves a comfortable window to pull 145 GB plus 5 GB before launch rather than during it. Our release time guide converts the unlock instant for each region.

Which NVIDIA driver should you run?

617.42. S-GAME's letter reports performance instability on the newer 621.01 driver and recommends 617.42 instead.

Driver S-GAME's guidance
617.42 Recommended — described as the best experience in the game during their testing
621.01 (or newer) Reported unstable; roll back to 617.42 using the clean installation option
Next NVIDIA release Expected soon; the letter says to stay on 617.42 until it arrives

Two caveats worth stating plainly. The recommendation is a developer statement about their own testing, not an independent driver benchmark, and the letter addresses NVIDIA only — it says nothing about AMD or Intel drivers, so do not read the 617.42 advice as a statement about Radeon or Arc systems.

If you are on a laptop with vendor-supplied drivers, a clean install may also reset power and display profiles set by the manufacturer. Note your settings before rolling back.

What changes if you play with ray tracing off?

Quite a lot, according to the letter. S-GAME says it spent significant time refining the rasterised visuals so that each environment stays true to the intended art direction even with ray tracing disabled, and that the game was tested on mid-range and lower-end PCs as well as handhelds.

That is a meaningful statement for anyone below the recommended tier: the game is not designed to look wrong without RT. Our PC requirements guide lays out the official minimum and recommended targets, and the Steam guide covers the handheld and Deck verification question separately.

The honest limit: "tested on mid-range hardware" is not a frame-rate promise. Read independent benchmarks for your GPU before assuming a specific number at 1440p.

Which settings did the director single out?

Three quality-of-life details from the same letter, all confirmed as shipping features:

  • Blade clash tone. The audio settings include an option to adjust the tone of clashing blades, so you can change how weapon impacts sound.
  • Button layouts. PS5 offers three different layouts, and PC supports more flexible remapping.
  • Aspect ratios. The game is adapted for 16:9 monitors and TVs, 16:10 laptops and handhelds, and ultrawide displays beyond 3:1.

Steam's own feature list adds adjustable text size, adjustable difficulty, custom volume controls, and subtitle options — worth checking on the store page if accessibility settings decide your purchase.

Launch-day checklist

Order Step Why it matters
1 Confirm ~145 GB install space and 300 GB free during preload Running out of space mid-extraction is the most common launch-night failure
2 Install the ~5 GB day-one patch RT and path tracing performance, plus bug fixes
3 Roll back to NVIDIA 617.42 with a clean install S-GAME reports instability on 621.01
4 Verify the install is on an SSD An SSD is a stated requirement at every tier
5 Check the unlock instant for your region 02:00 UTC on October 29 — October 28 evening in the Americas
6 Set blade-clash audio, button layout, and aspect ratio Confirmed options that change how the game feels on your setup

If you have not bought yet, the editions comparison covers what the extra ten dollars buys, and the review scores page explains which reviewer complaints the patch may already address.

What is not confirmed

Question Status
PS5 patch size TBD — the 5 GB figure is not split by platform
Full patch notes TBD — the letter lists categories, not individual fixes
Whether the patch changes frame pacing, stutter, or shader compilation TBD — only RT and path tracing performance is named
AMD and Intel driver guidance Not addressed in the letter
Whether path tracing is available on every GPU tier TBD — official tiers list RT and path tracing GPUs separately
Post-launch hotfix cadence TBD

This page will be updated when S-GAME publishes a platform-specific changelog or a revised driver note.

Official sources