The RPG Genshin Impact is the most successful international release from China and has taken the West by storm. However, a new Chinese game might come on the scene that could take this title away. We are talking about Black Myth: Wukong.
The community viewed the RPG Genshin Impact very critically before its release. This was mainly because it was a Chinese release. The Chinese market is characterized by mobile games and free-to-play models, which are often associated with pay-to-win.
Initially, Genshin Impact was dismissed as a Zelda clone. A cheap, Asian copy of the successful Nintendo game. And the game’s gacha system was also under critical observation. In fact, it is quite rare to get a max-level character. And some people spend a lot of money to achieve this goal.
However, Genshin Impact was underestimated. It now has over 5 million registered users outside of China, making it the most successful international release from the country and has taken the West by storm. It is not just a Zelda clone. Even though it truly has many elements of Breath of the Wild, it still has its own identity and charm.
Genshin Impact has secured its place alongside Western AAA titles from China. It creates a bridge between the Chinese and Western gaming markets that has never existed before.
Genshin Impact casts a new, positive light on free-to-play and mobile games and is played all over the world. Now a new game has come along that fits this mold. The indie game Black Myth: Wukong is already being referred to as China’s hope, even though it hasn’t been released yet.
Will it be the next Chinese game to conquer the West after Genshin Impact? We will tell you what we already know about Black Myth: Wukong.
The AAA game from the indie studio
What kind of game is this? The developers of Black Myth: Wukong held an interview with IGN (via ign.com) and revealed some details about the game.
Black Myth: Wukong will be an action RPG in Unreal Engine 4, resembling Dark Souls or Dynasty Warriors. It is being developed by a Chinese indie studio called Game Science. The studio initially developed two mobile games.
With the earned money, they now want to do what they originally intended. Black Myth: Wukong is intended to be a premium console game. A very risky move, considering the Chinese market is ruled by free-to-play models, as seen with Genshin Impact.
The game is set to be released on “all mainstream consoles” and PC. Which exact ones they are, has not yet been confirmed. However, the game has such a high-quality look that it would definitely fit with next-gen consoles.
When will it be released? The developers have revealed that the game has been in development for 2 years and they plan to release it within 3 years. Some members of the 30-person team originally came from the Chinese entertainment giant Tencent.
To release the game as quickly as possible, the studio needs more employees. This is also because they decided against outsourcing individual areas to other companies.
For this purpose, they released a 13-minute trailer with gameplay. It went so viral that they can hardly keep up with applications. There are even interested parties from outside of China who would pay for their own work visa.
What details do we know? The game takes inspiration from one of the most famous Chinese novels, Journey to the West. The story of the Monkey King is better known worldwide through the Japanese manga Dragon Ball and its main character Son Goku; the developers want to change that.
However, Black Myth: Wukong is meant to be darker and more complex than the original story of the Monkey King. In the video, three monkeys are seen, and players must find out for themselves during the game who Wukong is.
The environment seen in the trailer is called Black Wind Mountain and is said to offer players 30-60 minutes of gameplay on normal difficulty. Overall, Black Myth: Wukong is expected to have more than 15 hours of gameplay. For this, the team is working on over 100 different opponents, including bosses, to keep it varied.
And the demo in the trailer is indeed playable and not CGI, as the author of the IGN article confirms. He was able to fly around as a golden cicada to avoid fights but chose to engage instead.
Additionally, he fought the boss in another form. It seems you can switch forms in Wukong. The demo also features four other bosses located in a test area called “Toilet”.
What about multiplayer? Unfortunately, nothing is known about a possible multiplayer mode. We’ll have to wait and see whether Black Myth: Wukong can be played in coop mode.
Is there more to come? Just for the trailer, Black Wind Mountain went through several revisions before it was ultimately released. The studio says it might take a while before we see anything new about Black Myth: Wukong.
They want to completely focus on development and will only show something again when it exceeds the quality of the first video.
However, the developers have even bigger plans. Black Myth: Wukong is not intended to be the only Black Myth game. They want to create an entire universe comparable to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Currently, two more installments are planned that are also based on Chinese stories.
The attention that Wukong is already receiving has never been seen for a Chinese game. Depending on how Black Myth: Wukong develops, it could outshine Genshin Impact as the most successful Chinese release.
Even if the styles are completely different, the dark Black Myth: Wukong will probably not rely on sexualized characters like Genshin Impact.
