Chinese video game Black Myth: Wukong, an adaptation of the 16th-century Chinese tale “Journey to the West”, has made the headlines this week as it became an instant global hit, claiming more than 1 million concurrent players on gaming platform Steam within an hour of its Tuesday release and 2.2 million players by Wednesday (without taking into account the PS5 numbers).
Even if there were some precedents (such as Genshin Impact in 2020), it’s rare for a Chinese studio (Game Science, which is backed as usual by Tencent) to enjoy that kind of international success as Chinese games are most of the time aimed at the domestic market, developed for mobile and PC only (the leading gaming platforms in the country) with much lower budgets than the Western console blockbusters and come with a freemium model.
This release of a AAA (=big budget) game for PC and consoles with a “traditional” one-time purchase price was then widely expected and it didn’t disappoint with Black Myth: Wukong exceeding the popularity of recent blockbusters Cyberpunk and Elden Ring.
We see several positives stemming from this Wukong success for the whole Chinese video game industry. First, it could open up the international market to Chinese game makers and encourage them to port some of their franchises on consoles, allowing them to find a welcome new source of growth after all the restrictions and regulatory headwinds they have faced at home.
Second, it could mark an inflection point in the relations between the gaming industry and the regulator after years of crackdown. There’s been apparent support, not to say praise, from Chinese state media for Black Myth: Wukong in the last couple of days, suggesting that the administration could seek to develop China soft power in the future by encouraging the export of culturally rich titles.
Obviously, more Chinese games on the global stage will mean more competition for Western game makers. But the latter could find solace in a Chinese domestic market that opens up to consoles, blockbuster games and their different monetization (one-time purchase price around $40 vs. free + micro-transactions).
Consoles are a minor gaming platform in China, but Black Myth: Wukong is sparking a surge in PS5 sales with shoppers currently having to wait for up to a week to get their console delivered. A PS5 is indeed less expensive than the required PC upgrades (graphics card…).
This larger addressable market could clearly encourage Western publishers to push more aggressively some of their well-known franchises in the country in the future.
