KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 27 —By now you would have heard of the hit Chinese video game Black Myth: Wukong shooting to fame all over the news following its much anticipated worldwide release on August 20.

As of August 23, the game had sold 10 million copies worldwide and saw three million concurrent players across all platforms (Windows PC and PlayStation 5), according to its developer Shenzhen-based Game Science.

On PC, the game saw 2.4 million concurrent players at its peak, ranking the game at the second-most all-time concurrent players to date surpassing other hit video games such as Elden Ring, Baldur’s Gate 3 and Cyberpunk 2077.

To put into perspective, PUBG: Battlegrounds currently holds the record at 3.2 million all-time concurrent players on PC which was achieved in 2018.

What is it about?

Widely lauded as the first Chinese-developed “Triple A” title, a term used to describe major, high-budget, stand-alone productions, the game is inspired by the classic 16th-century Chinese novel Journey to the West.

On Steam — a known video game digital distribution service — the game is described as a single-player, third-person action Role-Playing Game (RPG) rooted in Chinese mythology.

“The story is based on Journey to the West, one of Chinese literature's Four Great Classical Novels.

“You shall set out as the Destined One to venture into the challenges and marvels ahead, to uncover the obscured truth beneath the veil of a glorious legend from the past,” the game’s description reads.

The 'Black Myth: Wukong' game has sold 10 million copies worldwide. — AFP pic
The 'Black Myth: Wukong' game has sold 10 million copies worldwide. — AFP pic

The Destined One is based on the character of Sun Wukong or the Monkey King, a key character in the Ming dynasty epic.

First announced with a teaser trailer showcasing gameplay in its pre-alpha build during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic on August 20, 2020, it immediately garnered nearly two million views on YouTube within a day.

Developed and published by Game Science, the initial trailer was meant to recruit more talent for the company for the game’s development which had begun in 2018, as the team had only 30 members at the time.

Four years later, the game is now seen as a rare example of popular media broadcasting Chinese stories on an international stage and an inflection point for China’s PC/console gaming sector.

On Steam, the game currently holds an ‘overwhelmingly positive’ review status, with 96 per cent of the 348,276 reviews viewing the game very favourably.

Controversies

Despite its success, the title’s records come against a backdrop of misogyny and censorship accusations aimed at the game developer.

Ahead of its release, content creators and streamers revealed a directive — issued by a company affiliated with the developer — provided to them which included a list of banned topics to avoid talking about while livestreaming the game.

The list included politics, "feminist propaganda,” Covid-19, China’s video game industry policies and other content that “instigates negative discourse”.

While the controversy has attracted much attention, it has not dented or detract from the game’s overwhelmingly positive reception among gamers.

Black Myth: Wukong is currently available for PC and PS5.