Black Myth: Wukong is already one of the fastest-selling games of all time, moving almost as many units in one week as Elden Ring and Cyberpunk did in their first months : pcgaming

[–] KoboldCoterie@pawb.social 68 points 2 months ago (2 children)

This seems to be mostly driven by Chinese gamers wanting to play it for the Chinese mythology theme; I wonder if we'll see a huge influx of other Chinese mythology related games in the coming months, trying to capitalize on this.

[–] Melt@lemm.ee 10 points 2 months ago (5 children)

Sun Wukong is not any Chinese mythology, he's hugely popular. This is like Star War or Lord of the Ring getting the first AAA game ever.

[–] Hello_there@fedia.io 23 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Kinda diff. It's just an influential Chinese story - well known in the country.

The Sun Wukong (Chinese: 孫悟空, pronounced [swə́n ûkʰʊ́ŋ]) is a literary and religious figure best known as one of the main characters in the 16th-century Chinese novel Journey to the West.[1]

[–] SkyezOpen@lemmy.world 21 points 2 months ago

Total DragonBall ripoff.

[–] KoboldCoterie@pawb.social 17 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

I'm not knowledgeable enough about Chinese mythology (popular or not) to be able to comment on that, but it does seem to be very under-explored as a genre; it's neat that it's getting a spotlight. I don't have strong feelings one way or the other about the game personally, but it's always cool to see a studio try something new - even if it's only new in theming - and be successful with it. I'd much rather Wukong be wildly successful than another Call of Duty game or whatever.

[–] MindTraveller@lemmy.ca 4 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Sun Wukong is already in Warframe, a game with 50 million players.

[–] ILikeBoobies@lemmy.ca 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

And a ton of other games

MONKEY KING: HERO IS BACK

Was published by Sony/THQ 5 years ago, I would say that fits AAA a lot more than this indie game

[–] MindTraveller@lemmy.ca -3 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

Monkey King: Hero Is Back made 153 million dollars. Warframe is 11 years old, and currently has an annual revenue higher than 153 million. Warframe is the bigger game.

[–] ILikeBoobies@lemmy.ca 1 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Indie game refers to Black Myth and success doesn’t relate to A,AA,AAA

[–] boonhet@lemm.ee 3 points 2 months ago (1 children)

This seems to be mostly driven by Chinese gamers wanting to play it for the Chinese mythology theme

Shit, I'm not even Chinese and I jump any time I see a game with Chinese mythology. Anyone got anything good, tell me! I used to be a huge 9dragons fan. Never got into Jade Empire, maybe I should give that another shot?

I wonder if we’ll see a huge influx of other Chinese mythology related games in the coming months, trying to capitalize on this.

If it's within the coming months, they either had to be in development long ago or they're dogshit.

But maybe some upcoming games will be announced with similar themes.

[–] geneva_convenience@lemmy.ml 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

9Dragons now that is a throwback

[–] boonhet@lemm.ee 2 points 2 months ago

Hell yeah!

I believe it still works but it feels very dated. Still, it just feels very satisfying somehow.

[–] halcyoncmdr@lemmy.world 50 points 2 months ago (3 children)

Cool, what are the numbers without China? Chinese gamers are so numerous that they will 100% shift the sales data of a game from failure to success just by themselves, and this game was 100% intended for that demographic.

[–] erin@lemmy.blahaj.zone 4 points 2 months ago (1 children)

You can find that information easily. Steam reviews are by region.

[–] stardust@lemmy.ca 2 points 2 months ago

What about steam player count? I think that's the number people are curious about more than reviews.

[+] Stitch0815 -8 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Why would it matter then?

[–] halcyoncmdr@lemmy.world 16 points 2 months ago (3 children)

China has a larger gaming population than many countries have citizens. It's one of the reasons a bunch of western devs are trying to cater to that market more, and kowtowing to Chinese government to include their propaganda or exclude reality in the process. The games Chinese gamers choose to really get behind are rarely the same as the rest of the world. So when trying to compare sales numbers, it's like having a gorilla sitting on the scale.

Technically yeah it's selling a ton of copies, no one is arguing otherwise, but you also can't really compare sales directly to other western games without removing those sales figures because they're an outlier.

[–] Stitch0815 5 points 2 months ago

So you're saying it's so tailored to the Chinese market that it becomes biased because the Chinese marked is biased (mostly) do to censorship of other games?

Yeah I can see that tipping the scale in their favor (if that's what you meant)

[–] RecluseRamble@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Cyberpunk and Elden Ring were also hits in China, so I'm not sure this is relevant when comparing worldwide sales.

[–] Xanis@lemmy.world 3 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Taking into account censorship laws and the cultural significance of the game, I'd say China is likely causing this game to tremendously outperform vs expected metrics. So here's what I'd like to know:

Total cost of the game in China against other common costs. Is it affordable?
Has China raised the limitations on time played per day for this game? (that I believe exists)
Did the Chinese government help fund ways for this game to reach a wider population? Possibly through a deal to maintain the game's strong cultural identity?
Is it actually a good game?

Answer: Yes, though different in execution than people expected. The reviewers I trust give it a Buy Now IF your system can handle it. Sounds like it's, excuse me, a beast to run.

~~4 is easy enough to answer. Off to see some reviews!~~

[–] Grandwolf319@sh.itjust.works 3 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Cause if it appeals to just one demographic, I’m not gonna play it cause I’m not in said demographic.

[–] Stitch0815 4 points 2 months ago

I get that you might not be interested but that does not change the sales figures.

I also see this as being tailored to the Chinese market but that does not mean non Chinese players are not interested.

[+] i_hate_nazis@eviltoast.org 34 points 2 months ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (2 children)

[deleted]

[–] jacksilver@lemmy.world 1 points 2 months ago

Yeah, but is it good?

I recently tried "My Time at Portia" which I recall had similar issues around being developed by a Chinese company. Even though it has a lot of really good reviews, the game is janky and okay at best. All the comments for Black Myth are calling out politics, but I want to know is it actually any good.

[–] Stitch0815 -2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Why does that matter in this context?

[–] Grandwolf319@sh.itjust.works 18 points 2 months ago

So I go to right wing online spaces (I want to keep a close eye on fascism) and they are praising this game and treating it like a win over “the radical left”.

Apparently, cause it doesn’t have diversity and it’s selling that means that they were right about “woke” stuff.

And here I am just looking at it thinking…

Huh, I’m glad there is a good new game, wish it was my genre instead of another dark souls clone.

I don’t understand the downvotes on this post though, do lemmy users think it’s a controversial game or is it cause its all Chinese players and thereby the headline is a little misleading?

[–] ZombiFrancis@sh.itjust.works 12 points 2 months ago

Turns out China is a massive market and economy.

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