Game Science’s Black Myth: Wukong, originally announced in 2020, finally launched globally on 20 August, and has rapidly sold 10 million copies in just three days. This release marks a monumental achievement for the developer, especially given the game’s journey through development challenges.
The game, which draws inspiration from the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West, was released across PC and PlayStation 5 platforms. By the evening of 23 August, Game Science announced on X/Twitter that Black Myth: Wukong had achieved a sales milestone and reached three million concurrent players across all platforms, signalling a massive success for what is considered the first AAA title from a Chinese studio.
Before this massive hit, Game Science was primarily known for its mobile games like Art of War: Red Tides and 100 Heroes. The company, which started with just 13 employees, expanded to 140 to develop Black Myth: Wukong. The game’s sales success was hinted at by early Steam numbers, which showed over a million players logging on immediately upon release, surpassing heavy hitters like Dota 2, Palworld, Lost Ark, and Counter-Strike 2.
Game Science expressed its gratitude on social media, thanking players worldwide for their support and inviting them to enjoy the game over the weekend. To contextualise, Black Myth: Wukong‘s sales performance is on par with Arrowhead’s Helldivers 2, which sold 12 million copies in 12 weeks, and has matched Pokémon Scarlet and Violet‘s record of 10 million copies sold in just three days.
On Steam, the game set records for the most-played single-player game ever, surpassing Cyberpunk 2077, and became the second most-played game of any type on the platform, just behind the battle royale PUBG. Despite these impressive numbers, the majority of the game’s players are based in China, though it also enjoys significant popularity in Western markets.
Daniel Ahmad, Director of Research and Insights at Niko Partners, noted on his blog that Black Myth: Wukong‘s success underscores the growing capabilities and ambitions of Chinese game development studios to compete globally.
An Xbox Series X and S version was also planned for simultaneous release but was delayed due to optimisation issues. Game Science has committed to minimising the wait for Xbox users and will announce a new release date once Black Myth: Wukong meets its quality standards.
Natalie is a big fan of anything related to movies, TV shows, games, and comics — you name it. When she’s not reading or geeking out about the latest shows on Netflix, she’s probably playing gacha and tabletop games, or daydreaming of meeting her idols.
Kevin Low
Trinity Sun
Jake Su
