The game has been off to a great start amongst Chinese players.

Black Myth Wukong has been one of the most anticipated titles for 2024 and its release was a phenomenal success. The game which rode on top of the Steam Wishlist for a long time had over 4.5 million sales at launch, highlighting the game’s popularity.

Black Myth Wukong off to a rocking start

Black Myth Wukong was first announced on August 20, 2020 with a trailer showcasing the game’s pre-alpha gameplay. The game released exactly four years later on August 20, 2024, to much acclaim. With a focus on traditional cultural themes, Black Myth Wukong’s development started all the way back in 2018. After rigorous research about the game, the developers considered the cost of Research and Development to be high. The initial trailer was a massive success with over two million views on YouTube and nearly ten million views on Bilibili.

The game has been off to a strong start with over 4.5 million copies sold within three days of launch according to a Chinese news outlet, Cailianshe (财联社). The 4.5 million copies include around 3 million sold on Steam. It is still unclear the distribution numbers for the remaining 1.5 million copies.

The game had a massive launch and was the most wish-listed game on Steam. Upon launch, it zoomed to around 2.2 million copies, only behind PUBG’s massive number of 3.2 million concurrent players. 

Massive release on Steam

Black Myth Wukong has over 2.4 million concurrent players at launch. Screengrab via Steamdb.
Black Myth Wukong has over 2.4 million concurrent players at launch. Screengrab via Steamdb.

The game’s Steam release saw an all-time high of 2,415,714 and despite over 48 hours after its launch on Steam, it is still going strong. While the majority of players are from China right now, it is also slowly catching up with the English-speaking audience. The game’s concurrent playerbase sees a dip in accordance with the Chinese time zone as is expected. 

The game has a massive following in China with some companies even declaring holiday for employees to play the game. The game itself is based on ancient Chinese literature and also on the ‘Journey to the West’ Chinese television series. 

The Game developer has hopes that there will be future versions of the game exploring a shared Black Myth Wukong universe. The shared universe would focus on different stories from the Black Myth mythology. The game’s pre-orders started on June 7, 2024 and released on PC and PS5 on August 20. Black Myth Wukong will come out on Xbox consoles at a later date. 

Stay tuned to esports.gg for the latest Black Myth news and updates.