China-made game ‘Black Myth: Wukong’ triumphs

Black Myth: Wukong, China’s first AAA game, merges stunning graphics with rich cultural storytelling, capturing global attention and boosting both tourism and investor interest.

Since its debut in 2020, Black Myth: Wukong, China‘s first AAA (highest quality) game’s clout has been rapidly building.

On August 20, it launched for PC and PS5, quickly topping the charts, becoming the second most popular game on Steam with over 2.1 million concurrent players and selling more than 4.5 million copies within 24 hours of release. Presales clocked in at more than 400 million RMB ($55.83 million).

“I deleted all the games on my computer to download Black Myth: Wukong. I’m thinking of buying a PS5 now,” says Julian Ye, a 30-year-old Chinese engineer, who downloaded the game five days ago and has played it every night since.

Developed by independent studio Game Science, Black Myth: Wukong is an action role-playing game (RPG) set in a world inspired by the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West starring the Monkey King — a monkey that possesses supernatural powers — combining stunning graphics with a Dark Souls style gameplay experience.

Why is it making a stir? #

The game’s success is evident in the sales numbers and the cultural conversations it has ignited. On Weibo, China’s equivalent to Twitter, the hashtag “Black Myth: Wukong” (#黑神话悟空#) climbed to number 27 on the Hot Search list with 1.06 billion views, while another hashtag related to the lifting of the review embargo reached number 32, amassing 19.3 million views.

This viral attention and preorder success have piqued investor interest, leading to a surge in the share prices of related companies. Zhejiang Publishing, the game’s publisher, saw its shares hit the upper price limit on June 12, following the game’s rapid ascent to the global number one spot in preorders.

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