“Black Myth: Wukong” is a Chinese triple A (big budget) game, inspired by the classic novel Journey to the West.

With a record number of players, "Wu Kong" has surpassed a series of other monuments of the gaming world in recent years such as Cyberpunk 2077, Elden Ring and Baldur's Gate 3.

This action role-playing game was developed by Game Science studio, backed by Tencent Holdings, over the course of six years.

d0e76d42 a69d 4c52 a2d5 2940ce26269d_c3977a29.jpeg
Black Myth: Wukong breaks player records just three hours after launch. Photo: Game Science

According to Zhang Shule, an analyst at CBJ Think Tank, one of the reasons the game broke the player record in just a few hours is because China has been absent from the list of AAA games for a long time.

“As the world’s largest gaming market and home to the richest gaming company, Tencent, the lack of a truly globally recognized AAA game is a pain for mainland developers and gamers,” Zhang said. “This is also why Black Myth: Wukong is so highly anticipated.”

Zhang previously predicted that the game would need to sell 5 million copies to be considered a good domestic AAA title, but raised his forecast amid the game’s immense popularity. “Now I have reason to believe that this game has a chance to reach 10 million in sales.”

For comparison, Cyberpunk 2077, released by Polish game developer CD Projekt in December 2020, sold 25 million copies by October 2023. Elden Ring, from Japan's FromSoftware, achieved similar sales in June this year, after launching in February 2022.

Qian Xuecheng, a 30-year-old gamer in Shanghai, even took a day off from work so he could start the game as soon as it was released. "I've been waiting for Wukong for a long time," Qian said, adding that the quality of the game exceeded his expectations.

"Beautiful graphics, beautiful character design, beautiful combat scenes. Although it may be a bit difficult for new players who have never tried any Souls-like games (an action game with a relatively high difficulty level)," said Qian.

Feng Ji, founder and CEO of Game Science, shared that the development team aimed to make the game accessible to both newcomers and veteran gamers.

(According to SCMP, Bloomberg)

Hit mobile game returns to iPhone and Android after 4 years of absence Hit shooter Fortnite is back on iPhone in Europe and globally on Android smartphones, after four years of being banned from the app store.