Black Myth: Wukong
Developer(s)Game Science
Producer(s)Feng Ji, Yang Qi
Artist(s)Yang Qi
EngineUnreal Engine 5[1]
Platform(s)
ReleaseAugust 20, 2024
Genre(s)Action role-playing
Mode(s)Single-player
Black Myth: Wukong
Simplified Chinese黑神话：悟空
Traditional Chinese黑神話：悟空

Black Myth: Wukong (黑神话：悟空) is an upcoming action role-playing game by Chinese developer Game Science, based on the classical 16th-century Chinese novel Journey to the West.[2][3] It is set to release on August 20, 2024.

Gameplay

The player controls a monkey based on Sun Wukong, referred to in the game as "the Destined One" (天命人), to fight through an assortment of enemies. The player also has the ability to transform into a flying insect or a giant monster.[4]

Soundtrack

The game has been authorized by the China Central Television to use the theme song from its 1986 TV series Journey to the West.[5]

Marketing

On August 20, 2020, The developer Game Science uploaded a 13-minute pre-alpha gameplay video. Within one day, the video had nearly 2 million views on YouTube and 10 million views on Bilibili.[6] On February 8, 2021, in celebration of the year of the Ox, Game Science released a 3-minute gameplay trailer, which showed the game's enemies, bosses, areas, and spells.[7][8]

On August 19, 2021, Game Science released a 12 minute gameplay trailer, which revealed that the game was moved to Unreal Engine 5.[9]

Release

In a 2020 interview with IGN China, Game Science said they planned to release Black Myth: Wukong by 2023.[10] The developer aims to release the game for PC as well as mainstream consoles.[11] The game will be sold as a one-time purchase with possible DLCs. However, in January 2023, Game Science released a short video indicating that the game will be officially released in the mid-2024.[12]

At The Game Awards 2023, it announced to have a release date on August 20, 2024.[3][13]

Controversy

After the release of pre-alpha gameplay video in August 2020, studio head and CEO Feng Ji made lewd comments about the video's popularity on Weibo. Some Chinese internet users who were offended by these comments uncovered that Game Science, in 2015, used explicit graphics, suggestive text, and fat shaming in some of its job advertisements.[14] As a result of the misogyny and homophobia from the developer, some female video game players called for changes to the male-dominated culture of gaming in China, with others suggesting to pirate the game instead of supporting it.[15][16][17] This was corroborated by reporters at IGN in 2023, who further confirmed that the studio co-founder and lead artist Yang Qi posted a rant in 2013 based on gender stereotypes, while another technical artist made fetishistic allusions toward a female game character in August 2023 following the release of another trailer.[18]

References

  1. ^ Skrebels, Joe (August 19, 2021). "Black Myth: Wukong Switches to Unreal Engine 5 - Supports 4K, 60FPS, Ray Tracing, and More". IGN. Archived from the original on June 8, 2023. Retrieved August 19, 2021.
  2. ^ Van Allen, Eric (August 20, 2020). "Black Myth: Wukong Is an Upcoming Soulslike Adaptation of a Classic Chinese Novel". USgamer. Archived from the original on August 23, 2020.
  3. ^ a b Holiday, Charming (December 8, 2023). "Black Myth: Wukong Confirms 2024 Release Date". Game Rant. Archived from the original on December 10, 2023. Retrieved December 26, 2023.
  4. ^ Hollis, Daniel (August 20, 2020). "'Black Myth: Wukong' announced with stunning gameplay footage". NME. Archived from the original on August 23, 2020. Retrieved August 24, 2020.
  5. ^ "《黑神话：悟空》获得86版《西游记》序曲"云宫迅音"正版授权 _ 游民星空". GamerSky (in Chinese). Archived from the original on November 7, 2021. Retrieved August 23, 2020.
  6. ^ Ye, Josh (August 21, 2020). "Black Myth: Wukong in race to become China's first AAA game". South China Morning Post. Archived from the original on August 24, 2020. Retrieved August 24, 2020.
  7. ^ "Black Myth: Wukong - Chinese New Year greetings". YouTube. Game Science. February 8, 2021. Archived from the original on September 25, 2022. Retrieved February 9, 2021.
  8. ^ Yin-Poole, Wesley (February 9, 2021). "Black Myth: Wukong re-emerges with another stunning gameplay video". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on February 11, 2021. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
  9. ^ Game Science (August 19, 2021). "Black Myth: WuKong 12 Minutes UE5 Gameplay Test". YouTube. Archived from the original on August 20, 2021. Retrieved August 20, 2021.
  10. ^ Skrebels, Joe (September 11, 2020). "Black Myth: Wukong - 19 New Details We've Learned". IGN. Archived from the original on August 20, 2021. Retrieved September 12, 2020.
  11. ^ Skrebels, Joe (August 21, 2020). "Black Myth: Wukong Developer Responds to Huge Popularity of First Trailer". IGN. Archived from the original on August 23, 2020. Retrieved August 24, 2020.
  12. ^ Dinsdale, Ryan (January 16, 2023). "Black Myth: WuKong Launches Summer 2024". IGN. Archived from the original on March 13, 2023. Retrieved January 29, 2023.
  13. ^ LeBlanc, Wesley (December 7, 2023). "Black Myth: Wukong Gets August Release Date In New Gameplay Trailer". Game Informer. Archived from the original on December 8, 2023. Retrieved December 8, 2023.
  14. ^ James, Greg (September 2, 2020). "Chinese game developer faces boycott after CEO's sexually explicit remarks". Supchina. Archived from the original on October 22, 2022. Retrieved December 15, 2022.((cite news)): CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  15. ^ 阿虫 (August 30, 2022). 瑞雪 (ed.). ""3A大作不需要女性玩家"的背后，是游戏行业悠久的厌女历史". Women Awakening Network.
  16. ^ Sophie (September 1, 2020). ""3A大作不需要女性玩家"，简直是自砸招牌". Justice4Her. RNW Media. Archived from the original on September 30, 2020.
  17. ^ Nightingale, Ed (August 22, 2020). "New Black Myth: Wukong trailer prompts fans to resurface misogynistic comments from developer". Eurogamer.
  18. ^ Valentine, Rebekah; Chan, Khee Hoon (November 20, 2023). "How Black Myth: Wukong Developer's History of Sexism Is Complicating its Journey to the West". IGN.

External links

Wu Cheng'en's Journey to the West
Categories