Why is Black Myth: Wukong the most popular game in China in 2024?
Black Myth: Wukong is an action RPG rooted in Chinese mythology. The player sets out as “the Destined One to venture into the challenges and marvels ahead, to uncover the obscured truth beneath the veil of a glorious legend from the past” (Steam, 2024).
The game was release on 20 Aug 2024, with an “overwhelmingly positive” rating on Steam. Even though mainland Chinese gamers do require a VPN to access Steam, more than 93% of the 250,000 reviews on Steam are in Simplified Chinese, with an impressive 97% of these reviews being positive (Niko Partners, 2024).
It sold 10 million copies within the first 3 days and now over 20 million copies sold in over a month.
Source: Game Science's Twitter/X
Why is Black Myth: Wukong so popular in China?
In additional to excellent graphics and story-telling, there are a few key reasons why this game is the most popular game in China for 2024. Here are a few reasons below:
Black Myth: Wukong Evokes a Sense of National Pride
The game’s story is based on ‘Journey to the West’, one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. The main character Sun Wukong, aka ‘The Monkey King’, is a classic literary character known by Chinese people of all generations.
The studio decided to use the Chinese pinyin name “Wukong”, instead of the anglicised name ‘Monkey King’ as a symbol to hold true to Chinese heritage and culture.
Prior to the release of the game, the novel has also been adapted into a popular TV series as well as cartoons. In particular, the character of Wukong evokes a sense of nostalgia among boomers and millennials who may have grown up with the TV shows and cartoons.
Many of the villains and monsters in the game are also based on traditional Chinese literature and folklore. The culture understanding gives Chinese gamers an unique edge to completing the missions in the game. Even the default language setting on Steam is set to Simplified Chinese.
Playing the game evokes a sense of national pride and of one’s culture heritage. Some companies are even giving their employees time off to play the game, as well as reimbursing the cost of the game for those who bought it (The Straits Times, 2024).
The villains are also based on traditional Chinese character.
What does this mean for marketing your game?
You should pay special attention to translation and localisation. Translation should be available in Simplified Chinese (used in Mainland China) and Traditional Chinese (used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau). It’s important to partner with culture experts and marketers to navigate cultural sensitivity, historic sensitivity and China’s strict regulatory environment.
A Stand Along 3A Game by Chinese Developers for Chinese Players
China’s gaming marketing is dominated by mobile gaming and multi-player online games because they’re more generally more lucrative to make.
Creating a standalone game like Black Myth: Wukong was a bold move for the independent studio Game Science. With a development cycle spanning six years, there was a significant risk that the game might not succeed upon release. Fortunately, the game was exceptionally well-crafted, and players embraced it right away.
At the same time, being the only 3A game by Chinese developers aimed at Chinese players, there is little competition this year.
What does this mean for marketing your game?
There is a rising insatiable appetite for Chinese content built specifically for Chinese players. Therefore, there is an opportunity to cross-promote with popular Chinese games, brands and festivals, in improve your game’s brand recognition.
In additional, your should take advantage of special Chinese holidays to market your game, such as 11.11 Single’s Day, Mid-Autumn Festival, Chinese Valentine’s Days, Chinese New Year, May Holiday, China National Day etc.
Unparalleled Game Marketing and Influencer Marketing
The marketing for Black Myth: Wukong started more than a year ago before the release date with game plays, trailers and merchandise. The game’s locations are based on many real life locations and Chinese tourism boards have learned to cross-promote their tourist destinations alongside the game.
Tourism marketing based on Black Myth: Wukong real locations.
Image Source: 郭晨凯, 上海证券报 2024
In China, influencers are called KOLs (Key Opinion Leaders). The amount of hype generated by KOLs on Chinese platforms such as Bilibili (similar to Youtube), Weibo (similar to X/Twitter) and Douyin (equivalent to Tiktok) etc. is unmatched.
One gaming KOL we work with at Oval Branding commented that there was little use to advertise any other game during the first two weeks of Black Myth: Wukong’s release because the entire gaming community was only talking about this one game.
What does this mean for marketing your game?
China’s internet firewall blocks western website such as Google, Youtube, Facebook, X, Instagram and Tiktok. So it is essential for foreign games to be present on local Chinese social media channels such as Weibo, Bilibili, Douyin etc.
In additional, one of the best ways to gain more followers and brand exposure in China is by working with a carefully selected group of KOLs regularly.
Looking Ahead…
Looking ahead, we’ll likely see more Chinese studios taking on the risk of developing a 3A game similar to Black Myth: Wukong. Perhaps they’ll reignite other traditional Chinese literary characters.
We’ll also likely see more brand spin-offs such as smaller mobile games, a new TV series, cartoons, reality TV and live action shows etc. that feature the Wukong character.
Cross-promotional marketing
Take-away coffee with the Wukong character, anyone?
——
Want to Promote your Game in China?
If you’re interested in promoting your game to Chinese audiences in Mainland China and around the world, please get in touch with our team at Oval Branding here.
We offer services with brand naming, IP & trademark, website design, social media marketing, influencer marketing, content marketing and PR. All our services are customisable for you.
