Roger Craig Smith Is Now the Voice of Soul in Phantom Blade Zero

Roger Craig Smith now voices Soul, the main character in the video game Phantom Blade Zero, taking over from Jay Maksenuk. Game Informer published the casting news on 28 October 2026. The game launched with Smith in the role.

Smith is a longtime voice actor, best known to many players as Sonic and as Ezio. IGN reported on 29 October 2026 that he had replaced the original actor as Soul. Smith is also known for voicing Batman and Chris Redfield.

Maksenuk's role in the project has now changed, but his voice has not disappeared from the game's marketing. He is still heard in various trailers for Phantom Blade Zero. Maksenuk is also known for voicing V in Once Human, a survival game.

GameSpot described the switch as one that seemingly happened at the last minute. It makes clear that the new casting came close to release.

The game is developed by S-Game. Its launch has drawn a large crowd. GameSpot reported that Phantom Blade Zero reached more than 730,000 concurrent players on Steam, the PC storefront run by Valve. "Concurrent players" means the number of people playing at the same moment, and it is a common way to measure early interest in a game.

For players, the practical change is simple. Anyone who starts the game will hear Smith as Soul. Anyone who watches the trailers will still hear Maksenuk, so the two performances will sit side by side in the marketing for a while.

Voice casting changes are not unusual in games. A recast can follow a contract issue, a scheduling conflict, or a creative decision, and studios do not always explain which. For now, the confirmed facts are the names and the fact that Smith is the voice players will hear in the finished game.