'Black Myth' elates fans and becomes one of China's most successful games

"Black Myth" was released globally on Tuesday and enjoyed one of the best opening days, as measured by the number of players on gaming platform Steam, and sold nearly 1.2 million pre-release copies. Image: STR / AFP©

Shape-shifting monkeys wielding magic staffs battled giant demons as players worldwide dived into "Black Myth: Wukong", already hailed as one of the most successful Chinese-made video games.

"Black Myth" was released globally on Tuesday and enjoyed one of the best opening days, as measured by the number of players on gaming platform Steam, and sold nearly 1.2 million pre-release copies.

Gamer Li Song told AFP at a video shop in Beijing he bought it as soon as it was available for pre-order.

"It feels good," the 41-year-old said as his character scampered around a lush forest, dodging attacks from furry beasts before transforming into an insect.

"The controls and overall experience are solid," Li said.

Considered the first Chinese-developed "Triple A" title, a term used to describe major, high-budget, stand-alone games, it is inspired by the classic 16th-century Chinese novel "Journey to the West".

Players step into the shoes of a character similar to the Monkey King Sun Wukong, a key figure in the story.

A classic role-playing game, it requires players to build an arsenal of magic powers and deadly weapons as they control the "Destined One".

"The basic combat feels great, there are no problems there," Li said.

"The game's story, rooted in Chinese mythology, is promising."

Gaming shop owner Yuanyuan—who declined to give her family name—said she could never have imagined that a Chinese title could enjoy such success.

"It presents our myths and stories in a game for the whole world," she told AFP.

"As a Chinese person, I feel very proud."

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A long wait

More than 1.4 million people were playing "Black Myth" via gaming platform Steam at around 5 pm (0900 GMT) on Tuesday.

That was the fourth-highest number recorded for a game—more than recent blockbuster titles such as "Elden Ring" and "Cyberpunk 2077".

It also won praise from gaming press in the West with review aggregator website Metacritic giving it a rating of 82 out of 100 based on an average of 57 reviews.

Hype has been building since 2020, when its first trailer racked up 10 million views in just 24 hours on Chinese video streaming platform Bilibili.

"It feels like it's been a long wait," said Violet Zhang, a 21-year-old university student, speaking at a launch event in Shanghai.

"But it's really exciting to get to this day."

Developer Game Science, based in the eastern and southern cities of Hangzhou and Shenzhen, has been working on the game since 2018.

The process hasn't been without controversy—US gaming website IGN detailed last year what it called a "history of sexism" at Game Science.

The article prompted a backlash from players in China and elsewhere, with many defending the game and rejecting what they claimed was an attempt to push "woke" Western ideas onto a Chinese context.

Neither Game Science nor the game's co-publisher Hero Games responded to AFP's requests for comment on the controversy on Tuesday.

Yuanyuan told AFP she hoped that audiences would be "more tolerant of this game and accept its shortcomings".

"That way we can keep improving in the future," she said.

Gamer Li said he was "not really interested" in the furore.

"This is irrelevant to us, we're not interested in those issues," he said.

Wu Tianyu, a 29-year-old tech industry worker in Shanghai, said he was "very moved" by the game.

"I hope that our domestic video games will be increasingly successful in the future. I'm sure they will."