“Enchanting Adventures: How a Magical Monkey Story is Shaping the Future of China’s Gaming Landscape”

China’s gaming sector is gearing up to launch more blockbuster titles in 2025 following the remarkable international triumph of the “triple-A” game Black Myth: Wukong.

In August, the relatively unknown Chinese developer Game Science accomplished one of the most rapid-selling debuts in gaming history, selling 10 million copies within just three days of a game inspired by a classical Chinese narrative about a monkey with extraordinary powers.

The action role-playing title has since gathered $1.1 billion in revenue, with nearly 25 million copies sold, based on estimates from gaming consultancy Niko Partners. Approximately 70 percent of sales were made in China.

The game’s allure both at home and overseas extends beyond its cutting-edge visuals, enjoyable gameplay, and robust character arcs, according to a typical enthusiast.

“Hu,” a 29-year-old ex-tech worker from Beijing, remarked: “The most significant difference is that this is a genuinely Chinese game, weaving in a multitude of historical, cultural, and martial arts elements that are far more authentic than the sporadic Chinese elements found in other titles.”

Developers have elevated their efforts to achieve this. The game is China’s premier major “AAA” title — a non-official classification for games developed with hefty budgets and protracted development times, intended for gaming PCs and consoles rather than mobile devices.

“Black Myth: Wukong firmly positions Chinese developers on the global stage for triple-A premium games,” noted Daniel Ahmad, research director at Niko Partners.

Industry insiders are optimistic that this will inspire renewed investment in a national gaming industry that is recovering from a regulatory crackdown initiated in 2021, which limited children to playing video games for no more than an hour on specific days.

The industry has faced challenges worldwide, experiencing widespread layoffs, sluggish revenue growth, and escalating development expenses, especially in the US. In China, it is still bouncing back from an 18-month moratorium on gaming approvals that began in June 2021, which led investors to retreat and forced many smaller studios to shut down. Authorities have since recommenced the issuance of licenses.

“The success of Black Myth encourages developers to pursue their aspirations and aim for triple-A projects,” stated a game developer from a Shenzhen-based studio supported by Tencent. However, he mentioned that he has not observed any significant return of venture capital investment yet.

Black Myth: Wukong also garnered enthusiastic acclaim from state media, which celebrated its contribution to promoting a positive image of China internationally, reflecting a more lenient political attitude toward gaming.

The state-run China Daily published an editorial describing it as “thrilling to witness China dismantling the historical Western hegemony in the high-end gaming market and Western gamers embracing traditional Chinese culture.” This was a stark contrast to state media in 2021, which labeled the industry as promoting “spiritual opium.”

The game is spearheading a transition in China towards larger budgets and more ambitious projects that can rival globally, with anticipation building for upcoming titles, including Phantom Blade Zero from Beijing’s S-Game and Wuchang: Fallen Feathers by Chengdu’s Leenzee, set to launch later this year. The Tencent-supported studio Chengdu Ophiuchus Technology and the independent developer Digisky are also developing triple-A ventures.

“Prior to this game, Chinese developers excelled at creating free-to-play games, particularly for mobile . . . they had not mastered the triple-A premium category,” Ahmad observed.

China’s leading gaming firm, Tencent, remains heavily invested in mobile gaming. Its domestic gaming revenues rebounded in 2024, fueled by the release of its popular smartphone game Dungeon & Fighter Mobile, after a prolonged period of waiting for regulatory clearance.

“DnF Mobile has been a critical factor in Tencent’s impressive gaming performance this year,” remarked Robin Zhu, an internet analyst at Bernstein. Tencent’s domestic gaming revenue increased by 6 percent in the first nine months of 2024 to Rmb106bn ($14.6bn).

Beijing has also accelerated the approval process for new gaming licenses, indicating that the government has adopted a more favorable attitude. In the first 11 months of 2024, Beijing sanctioned nearly 1,300 games, surpassing last year’s total, according to Niko data.

Zhu indicated that the strength of Tencent’s domestic gaming sector shows that even though consumers are spending less in other areas, they are still inclined to invest in gaming.

“People are tightening their budgets on ecommerce but allocating more funds towards experiences and services,” he stated.

However, 2024 was not a robust year for all of China’s gaming firms, with the second-largest player, NetEase, experiencing a 4 percent decline in gaming revenue to Rmb21bn in the third quarter. Analysts attributed this partly to the declining popularity of Eggy Party, a multiplayer obstacle-course casual game.

Ahmad remarked that the emergence of Black Myth: Wukong indicates how China has understood how to gear up for larger-scale titles.

“China’s gaming industry has undergone an industrialization process. Previously, it struggled to compete with companies like Activision Blizzard. Nevertheless, Chinese studios have hired foreign professionals, expanded their teams, standardized tools and production methodologies, and focused on high production standards, popular gameplay mechanisms, and extensive progression systems to compete on a global scale.”

While competing directly with international gaming behemoths, Chinese developers possess a cost advantage, he stated, benefiting from the nation’s vast talent pool of affordable and skilled engineers. Game Science reportedly invested $42 million into developing Black Myth: Wukong, according to government records.

“If the equivalent game were produced in the US, it would require at least double, if not triple, the investment. The costs are significantly lower in China,” concluded Ahmad.