Black Myth: Wukong Breaks Record on Launch Day

“Black Myth: Wukong”, the new video game title – refer to my post published June 23, 2024 – launched yesterday by a Tencent-backed start-up has quickly become the most-played game on a major online platform, highlighting growing interest in Chinese-developed titles. 

 

“Black Myth: Wukong”, based on the Chinese mythological figure and classic novel “Journey to the West”, topped Steam’s most-played games chart with 2.2 million concurrent players, making it comfortably the biggest-ever single player launch on the PC platform. I cannot locate PS5 player numbers, but it’s safe to assume they’re high too.

 

Game Science, the developer behind “Black Myth: Wukong”, was founded in 2014 by former Tencent employee Feng Ji. The company have secured backing from investors, including Chinese tech giant Tencent and mobile game publisher Hero Entertainment.

 

 

First teased in 2020, the game has attracted global attention as a high-budget title from China. Pre-orders opened on June 08, with the game topping Steam’s China sales chart for the week of August 06-13.

 

The Tuesday launch also made waves domestically, with “Black Myth: Wukong” trending on social media. The hashtag ranked second on Weibo, China’s popular microblogging platform, accumulating 1.7 billion views.

 

FYI, this game's release marks a bold foray by Chinese game developers into a market long dominated by Western triple-A titles.

 

And already, major Chinese brands have leveraged the game’s popularity in their marketing efforts. Lenovo's Legion PCs and Luckin Coffee are among those incorporating elements inspired by “Black Myth: Wukong” into their promotional campaigns.