Black Myth: Wukong is increasing China’s appetite for AAA games, but next one could take years

August 24, 2024

The popularity of Black Myth: Wukong has Chinese investors and video game developers looking at ways to replicate its success, but industry insiders say that might be a decade away.

The blockbuster game, developed by Tencent Holdings-backed start-up Game Science, became an overnight sensation in China after its release on Tuesday and has been well received in global markets.

Sales of Black Myth topped 8.4 million copies within three days, sending total revenue from the title on video gaming platform Steam to more than US$400 million, according to data from market research company VG Insights.

The immense popularity of China’s first AAA title – an unofficial designation for games with large budgets and long development times – now has other developers in the country thinking more ambitiously.

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“The emergence of Black Myth: Wukong proves that a [Chinese] AAA game project can be established, developed and eventually hit the shelves,” said Allen Chan, a game developer in Beijing who has been working in the industry for four years.

Over six years of development, with the team behind it growing from 13 to 140, Black Myth was produced under China’s stringent video gaming regulations, which require all titles to be licensed for commercial release.

“The gaming industry is a risky and unpredictable field for many investors,” said Zhou Huaming, a veteran with 18 years of game development experience in Shanghai.

The uncertainty of China’s video-gaming regulations – which three years ago wiped US$100 billion of value from related stocks – has made investors and game developers alike hesitant to invest the time and money needed for big projects like Black Myth, Zhou added.

Game Science reportedly spent more than US$40 million to develop Black Myth. That sum is small compared with global AAA titles – the 2020 game Cyberpunk 2077 reportedly cost 10 times that amount – but it is a big chunk of cash for the average Chinese video game start-up.

Zhou now sees a chance for the situation in the domestic industry to change. “The success of Black Myth will definitely bring more funding into the sector, which will make more game developers willing to try to develop such big projects,” he said.

However, it might not benefit everyone equally. “Mature investors will choose mature teams,” Zhou said. “So resources will further converge towards the top game developers.”

People watch the Chinese action role-playing game ‘Black Myth: Wukong’ at a store on launch day in Beijing on Tuesday. Photo: AFP

Olivia Qin, a mobile game developer based in Shenzhen who focuses on simulation games, said the success of Black Myth is “definitely a boost in confidence for Chinese game developers”. “It proves that even for those working on genres not considered as lucrative, it will still yield good results if [developers] put their hearts into it,” she said.

Qin, however, added that she will not consider making AAA games herself. “The cost is too high and it takes too long,” she said. “Not every small studio can get investment from Tencent.”

Game developers remain cautious about speculating when China might see another AAA title, especially one with the potential to become another global hit.

The success of Black Myth “may be able to be replicated, but that period could be very long”, Chan said. “Game Science has spent about a decade accumulating the experiences and the ability to build such games.”

Zhou said a few big single-player titles are currently under development, and are expected to launch within three years. But for something else on the scale of Black Myth: Wukong, “it could take nine years, optimistically”, he said.