Black Myth: Wukong

Black Myth: Wukong (黑神话：悟空) is a 2024 action role-playing game developed and published by Game Science. The game is inspired by the classical Chinese novel Journey to the West. The player assumes the role of the Destined One, a staff-wielding monkey, embarking on a journey to recover six relics corresponding to Sun Wukong's six senses.
Black Myth: Wukong was released for PlayStation 5 and Windows on August 20, 2024, with an Xbox Series X/S version to be released at a later date. The game received generally favorable reviews from critics and won several accolades including Game of the Year awards. It sold 20 million units in its first month, making it one of the fastest-selling games of all time. An expansion for the game is planned for release.
Black Myth: Wukong is an action role-playing game. It has elements characteristic to the Soulslike subgenre. The game is played in single-player mode from a third-person perspective. The player controls the Destined One, a monkey protagonist based on Sun Wukong from the Journey to the West.
The protagonist's weapon is a staff, which is based on the Ruyi Jingu Bang from the novel. The staff can extend and shrink in size during combat. The different staff stances—the smash, pillar, and thrust stance—provide versatility in fights. The combat mechanics involve resource management. Focus can be accumulated by landing light attacks, executing well-timed dodges, and other means. A focus point is gained when the meter for focus is filled up. These points can be used to initiate heavy attacks. A heavy attack can be executed on its own or as a varied combo, which is triggered during light attacks. Stamina is depleted by sprinting, dodging, and attacking.
Spells have cooldowns and consume mana. They are categorized in mysticism, alteration, strand, and transformations. The protagonist uses transformations to shapeshift into a different creature or being. An example is the transformation Red Tides, which takes the form of Guangzhi, a wolfman who wields a flaming glaive. The transformations come with their own movesets and health. They are available on cooldown, but do not cost mana. They last until their might, which is depleted by attacking, or health runs out.
Spirits provide a skill and passive effect if they are equipped. Defeated yaoguai chiefs may leave behind their spirits, which are acquired if they are absorbed into a gourd. Spirit skills function as transformations to do a unique attack. Qi is used to activate spirit skills. An example of a spirit is the Wandering Wight, who does a headbutt attack. Vessels provide a passive effect and an activation effect, which consumes qi, if they are equipped. For example, the Plantain Fan can create a hurricane that staggers enemies.
The game follows a mostly linear progression interspersed with expansive areas. There are keeper's shrines, which act as checkpoints for the player, along the way. The player can reallocate their character's sparks, which are skill points, to change the character's playstyle without restrictions or costs. The game's difficulty cannot be adjusted by the player and varies throughout a playthrough. For example, enemy bosses were designed to establish a rhythm of highs and lows in difficulty across each chapter. After a playthrough is completed, there is a New Game Plus and a Challenge mode dedicated to fighting bosses.
Black Myth: Wukong is inspired by the classical Chinese novel Journey to the West. For instance, it adapts many of the novel's characters and their backstories. The game has six chapters, each focusing on a specific location: Black Wind Mountain, Yellow Wind Ridge, The New West, The Webbed Ridge, Flaming Mountains, and Mount Huaguo. The world is home to gods from the Chinese pantheon, encompassing Buddhist, Daoist, and other deities. Many yaoguais, who are beings with preternatural abilities and strange appearances, inhabit this realm. The story hints that, in the background, the relationship between the Buddhist gods from Mount Lingshan and the Daoist gods of the Celestial Court has become increasingly unstable.
The game introduces cultural and natural scenery derived from the real world into its setting. It features, for example, several locations from Shanxi Province, such as the Yungang Grottoes, Little Western Paradise, Nanchan Temple, Iron Buddha Temple, Guangsheng Temple, and Stork Tower, as well as locations from other provinces, such as the Kaiyuan Temple in Fujian Province, and the Dazu Rock Carvings in Chongqing.
Each chapter concludes with an animated cutscene providing a reflection and exploration of the narrative and thematic elements of the game. For instance, the first three cutscenes resonate with Chinese philosophy. The fourth cutscene relates to love, while the fifth cutscene relates to grief and anger. The final cutscene serves as a flashback depicting some of the events, played in a chronological reverse order, from the Journey to the West.
After escorting his master Tang Sanzang and retrieving the Buddhist scriptures in a pilgrimage to the West, Sun Wukong ascends to Buddhahood. Yet, he rejects life in the Celestial Court for the simple joys of life on Mount Huaguo instead. The Court grows mistrustful and sends an army led by Erlang Shen to force him to submit. Sun Wukong duels Erlang Shen, but he is incapacitated by the circlet that binds him and is sealed in stone on the mountain. He is severed from his six senses, corresponding to six relics. Over the next centuries, the monkeys of the mountain seek to recover the relics to revive him.
The Destined One, one of the monkeys, traverses through Black Wind Mountain. He is assisted by the local Keeper through this place. He defeats the Black Bear Guai, who has the Craving Eyes relic enshrined atop a pagoda. He reclaims the relic, while the Black Bear Guai surrenders. The Destined One then travels to the barren Yellow Wind Ridge. He defeats the Yellow Wind Sage, who uses Bodhisattva Lingji's severed head to contain the Fuming Ears relic. A mysterious Headless Monk, revealed to be Lingji, restores his head and gives the relic to the monkey. The Destined One continues to The New West, a cold mountainous region. Yellowbrow has the Hubris Nose relic and assumed the guise of Maitreya. He sends Kang-Jin Star after the monkey. During a fight, she crashes into the Gold Cymbals imprisoning Zhu Bajie, an old friend of Sun Wukong. Bajie joins the quest to gather the relics. The Destined One defeats Yellowbrow, who flees and falls into a frozen lake. Maitreya fishes the relic out of the lake for the monkey. Hereafter, the Destined One and Zhu Bajie arrive at The Webbed Ridge. The Fourth Sister of the spider guai family aids the monkey. The Second Sister captures Zhu Bajie and brings him to the matriarch, the Violet Spider, but the Destined One rescues him. The Violet Spider flees to the Hundred-Eyed Daoist Master, who violently takes the Envious Tongue relic back from her. The spider sisters retaliate, joined by the Destined One, who defeats the Hundred-Eyed. Zhu Bajie and the injured Violet Spider, once lovers, share a last glance at each other before Bajie sorrowfully walks away toward the relic. The Destined One and Zhu Bajie fight their way to the Flaming Mountains. They encounter someone who claims to be the Bull King and Princess Fair Fox's daughter, Pingping. The Bull King realizes that it is his son, Red Boy, in disguise, trying to deceive them. He hands the Grieved Body relic to the monkey, but Red Boy takes it and consumes it for power. The Destined One and Zhu Bajie defeats him. His mother Rakshasi pleas for mercy and offers her Plantain Fan, but Red Boy refuses to submit and kills himself. The relic reappears for them to take.
In the Great Pagoda located in The New West, Maitreya guides Erlang Shen and the Destined One to Mount Mei. Here, the Destined One defeats Erlang Shen and the Four Heavenly Kings. Erlang Shen, who took Sun Wukong's mind relic after their battle many ages ago, unleashes Wukong's memories from his third eye and shares his realization that their fight back then allowed Wukong to set a path to break free through a mortal death.
The Destined One and Zhu Bajie return to Mount Huaguo. They retrieve Sun Wukong's armor and Jingubang. They enter a realm, shaped by Wukong's lingering memories, through the stone on the mountain's summit. The Old Monkey ferries them across its waters. The group encounters versions of their current selves, which prompts the Old Monkey to reveal that the mind of Sun Wukong is the Destined One. He says that Wukong's mind is lost, as the mind is an essence unique to every life and is destined to fade away at life's end. Thus, he explains, Wukong can never return as he was, but the universe will always bear him a successor—this successor is the Destined One. At the journey's end, the Destined One defeats Sun Wukong's broken shell. The five relics, obtained during the journey, unite with the Destined One. As the shell dissipates, Wukong's circlet appears on the shell's head and falls into the shallow water. In one ending, the Destined One receives the circlet from the Old Monkey and becomes trapped in the stone. In the other ending, having regained Sun Wukong's memories from Erlang Shen, the Destined One does not wear the circlet.
Black Myth: Wukong is a game developed and published by Game Science. On February 25, 2018, the decision was made to create a single-player game. In December 2018, the development team relocated from Shenzhen to Hangzhou. They wanted to create a single-player game in their own style with a focus on traditional cultural themes. They discussed themes such as xianxia and wuxia, but were most enthusiastic about the Journey to the West. Ultimately, they decided to do the Journey to the West and tell a story following the ending of that tale. The series' title Black Myth was adopted to reflect the dark themes explored through Chinese mythology. The game's title became Black Myth: Wukong, as the character Sun Wukong was the biggest common denominator between the novel and game.
The development team selected characters to feature in the game and, based on these ideas, designed thirteen levels such as Lion Camel Ridge, Kingdom of Women, Black Wind Mountain, Yellow Wind Ridge, and Flaming Mountains. However, due to scheduling constraints, specific levels were prioritized and ultimately created. By the end of 2018, they realized basic game functions and largely formed the level for Mount Huaguo. Hereafter, they started working on the level for Black Wind mountain.
Black Myth: Wukong was first announced with a trailer showcasing gameplay from its pre-alpha build on August 20, 2020. The trailer demonstrated the game built on Unreal Engine 4. It showed the protagonist exploring the environment and fighting various foes in the level for Black Wind Mountain. Game Science did not contact any video game publications beforehand and simply released it on social media. Within one day, the trailer garnered nearly 2 million views on YouTube and 10 million views on Bilibili. It was released to attract potential employees to help build the game. As a result, the principle of the trailer was to show the level for Black Wind Mountain in its current state, rather than make adjustment for the sake of the demonstration. The development team started with seven people and had thirty people around the time of the announcement. In the past, they recruited within their own personal network, but they realized that this approach was not enough for the project. The trailer's popularity far exceeded their expectations and had resulted in over 10 thousand applicants, but they maintained their plans to recruit between ten and fifteen people for the time being to avoid expanding too quickly and losing sight of their original vision. By the end of the development, as shown by the game's end credits, the team had grown to 140 members.
Black Myth: Wukong was developed on Unreal Engine 5. Initially, development began on its predecessor, Unreal Engine 4. The move to the newer version was revealed through a trailer on August 20, 2021. Game Science explained that, in 2021, they had switched to Unreal Engine 5 as this would help with their pursuit for realism in the style. In designing the environment, the team conducted on-site studies of various real-world locations in cooperation with local cultural institutions. They created scans of scenes, such as buildings and statues, from numerous locations to use in the design. Over the course of four years, they traveled across China to undertake this endeavor. It resulted in an asset library greatly exceeding the game's actual needs.
Motion capture of performances by several actors was used for the movements of different characters. The actor Yin Kai, who is a martial arts practitioner, provided the motion capture for the Destined One and several other characters. Most of his performances were for actions done by the protagonist during combat.
The sound, including the music and voices, was produced by 8082 Audio. The music incorporates traditional Chinese instruments and Western orchestral elements. Additionally, it draws from various Chinese folk traditions, such as Shanbei storytelling accompanied by a sanxian, Hua'er folk singing from Gansu, and Buddhist chanting. The game features a symphonic adaptation of the theme song "Yungong Xunyin", originally composed by Xu Jingqing, from the 1986 television series Journey to the West. For the English voiceovers, Game Science encouraged voice actors to explore different regional accents, such as Brummie for the character Yin Tiger. PitStop Productions, the studio that did the English voiceovers, approached this on a character-by-character basis, aiming to keep the voices fairly broad rather than specific to a particular region in the game.
The animated cutscenes were created by different animation studios. The art style of the first cutscene "I See" is influenced by classic works of the Shanghai Animation Film Studio and lianhuanhua (a type of comic strips). It combines realism and xieyi (a style of freehand brushwork). The sixth cutscene "Unfinished" adapts the style of lianhuanhua with elements inspired from baimiao (an ink line drawing technique) and traditional murals such as those found in Dunhuang. Other styles used in the cutscenes includes stop motion and anime.
Black Myth: Wukong had a budget of $70 million over its six years of development, as reported by Bloomberg. This was partly funded by the investor Hero Games. Feng Ji stated that the studio could not undertake such a project in the beginning, so they made two mobile games before they cautiously began the project, as they previously worked at Tencent and thus knew the possible risks from experience. Yang Qi stated that they initially did not have high expectations for profitability, considering the high costs for research and development. Their initial expectation was that the game would sell between 3 and 5 million units, which would be enough to ensure its viability and allow for future projects. The Zhejiang Provincial Tax Service quoted a statement by a Game Science financial manager, made in relation to a 2023 tax incentive for research and development expenses, that the costs was estimated to have exceeded 300 million yuan ($42 million); this does not represent the whole budget, but details research and development costs incurred by Game Science, not including other contributors such as Hero Games or Tencent, applicable to a tax policy to encourage technological innovation in various industries.
Black Myth: Wukong was released for PC (Windows) and PlayStation 5 on August 20, 2024, at 10 AM (UTC+8). An Xbox Series X/S version is planned, although the release date has not been announced.
In January 2023, Game Science published a short film celebrating the upcoming Year of the Rabbit which revealed that the game would be released in the summer of 2024. During The Game Awards in December 2023, they released a trailer announcing the release date as August 20, 2024.
In June 2024, Game Science disclosed that the Xbox Series X/S version of the game was delayed for optimization to meet their quality standards. Media reports suggested that this may be due to the technical limitations of Xbox Series S, while some sources specifically suggested a memory leak as the possible issue. IGN reported that the delay was, according to an unnamed source, because of an exclusivity deal with Sony and not technical issues. Giant Bomb's Jeff Grubb stated, after speaking to his sources, that Sony had no marketing deal in place to keep the game as an exclusive. In September 2024, Microsoft responded that the delay was not due to Xbox limitations "that have been raised to us." In January 2025, Feng Ji made a social media post about the Xbox situation, mentioning that the "10 GB of shared memory" was difficult to resolve without having several years of optimization experience.
For the launch, Black Myth: Wukong received four editions: Digital Standard Edition, Digital Deluxe Edition, Deluxe Edition, and Collector's Edition. The Digital Standard Edition contains the base game. The Digital Deluxe Edition, additionally, provides in-game bonus content and a selected digital soundtrack. The content consists of the weapon Bronzecloud Staff; the equipment Folk Opera Mask, Folk Opera Almsgiving Armor, Folk Opera Leather Bracers, and Folk Opera Buskins; and the curio Wind Chimes. The two physical editions, the Deluxe Edition and the Collector's Edition, contain an activation code for the Digital Deluxe Edition on WeGame for JD.com purchases or Steam for overseas purchases. The Deluxe Edition comes with the physical collectibles: Steel Case, The Constricting Headband, Chaos at the Peach Banquet (color print on silk scroll), Wind Chime (necklace), Thunderstone (ring), Gold Sun Crow (pin), Stamps and Postcard, and Warranty Certificate. For the Collector's Edition, these are: Steel Case, Confront Destiny (protagonist figurine), Teaching of the Heart Sutra (color print on silk scroll), Wind Chime, Thunderstone, Gold Sun Crow, Stamps and Postcard, and Warranty Certificate. A physical disc was not included in these four editions. Game Science stated that they were still exploring options to offer physical discs, but that limitations in offline resources made it difficult to offer physical discs simultaneously with the release.
Black Myth: Wukong was the most-wishlisted game on Steam from May 2024. Pre-orders for the game launched on June 8, 2024. This came with the in-game content Trailblazer's Scarlet Gourd, which is also obtainable through gameplay progression. As reported in early August 2024, ahead of the release, the game ranked first on Steam's global top sellers chart. When the game's preload went live shortly before release, the download bandwidth usage on Steam reached its highest peak ever at 70 terabytes per second, superseding the previous record held by Cyberpunk 2077 in 2020. Hero Games, a marketing partner, reportedly sent some content creators an email with an activation code for the game and guidelines to not discuss topics including politics, feminism, and other things in their coverage of the game at launch.
In October 2024, Game Science announced that, with the master disc ready, the physical edition for Black Myth: Wukong on PlayStation 5 would be available "very soon". This comprise a physical disc containing the base game and a voucher code to redeem the Deluxe Edition content. It was released in December 2024 or January 2025 depending on the region.
In December 2024, Game Science provided a free update comprising new content, such as a boss rush mode unlocked following the story campaign, a map for each chapter, and an armor set created to celebrate the upcoming Chinese New Year.
Hero Games CEO Daniel Wu, an investor, confirmed to Bloomberg that there will be an expansion for Black Myth: Wukong. Feng Ji, during an interview in September 2024, said that many people were asking about an expansion and that rumors about a Chinese New Year release were circulating, but clarified that they do not regard an expansion to be completed soon as they intend to achieve higher quality standards and will need time to explore new technologies and themes. Yang Qi, addressing rumors suggesting that there was a significant amount of cut content ready to release an expansion soon, clarified that this was not the case and that assets were generally repurposed elsewhere.
Feng Ji said that they planned Black Myth: Wukong to be the first installment in a Black Myth series, which would explore different stories in Chinese mythology. The game was internally referred to as B1, meaning Black Myth One, in reference to its status as the first work in the series. They have ideas for two other titles in the series, but have not publicly revealed them.
There were various official Black Myth: Wukong events organized. In September and October 2024, symphony concerts produced by the Poly Culture Group and Game Science, featuring the game's music, were held in various cities across China. The Bilibili New Year's Eve Gala 2024 hosted several singers—Chen Hongyu, Xiong Zhuying, Zhelai, Zhang Zining, Peter Chen, and Qin Yong—who performed songs from the game. In April and May 2025, the China Academy of Art hosted a "Black Myth: Wukong Art Exhibition" at the CAA Art Museum in Hangzhou, featuring many artistic works related to the game, some made public for the first time.
Official goods related to specific elements of Black Myth: Wukong, such as its music, art, and gameplay, have been released. In April 2025, Game Science, 8082 Audio, and QQ Music released a Black Myth: Wukong music album on vinyl in two editions. In January 2025, moli, a brand of the CITIC Press Group, announced an art book in a paperback and a traditional Chinese-style bound edition, containing the portraits depicted in the game. The art book's release is planned for early 2025. In early 2025, Ultra Console Game released an authorized Chinese-language guidebook for the game.
Queen Studios, along with its INART and MORFIG brands, is the official producer of figures for Black Myth: Wukong. They made the Confront Destiny protagonist figurine, of which only 10 thousand units were produced, for the Collector's Edition. During the Wonder Festival Shanghai in October 2024, they revealed figurines of different characters and a life-size bust of the Destined One. Each bust comes with a numbered certificate signed by Game Science art director Yang Qi and Queen Studios art director Oliver Liu. The production was limited to 780 units. Figurines in their line include a 1:3 Zhu Bajie, a 1:6 Destined One in the "Great Sage Armor Set", and more.
In January 2025, Game Science released a Chinese New Year short film introducing their official merchandise brand BLACK MYTH. The brand encompasses products for Black Myth: Wukong but also aims to expand to other content over time. A dedicated team, separate from the game developers, was established to handle the design, production, and operation of the brand. Additionally, several companies collaborated, some via the BLACK MYTH brand, to create co-branded merchandise, such as 8BitDo (gaming controllers), Flydigi (gaming controllers), Lenovo (electronics), PepsiCo (soft drinks), Luckin Coffee (coffee), China Post (postage stamps), and Chow Tai Fook (jewelry).
Black Myth: Wukong received "generally favorable" reviews on PC and PlayStation 5 from critics, according to review aggregator website Metacritic.
On the day of release, Black Myth: Wukong reached over 2.2 million concurrent players on Steam, which placed it as the second highest game by this metric, surpassing other popular games such as Elden Ring and Cyberpunk 2077. The feat established it as the highest single-player game by concurrent players on Steam to date. Bloomberg reported that the ascent could help the game "seal its place in industry lore." On August 22, 2024, the game reached an all-time peak of over 2.4 million concurrent players on Steam, which placed it behind only PUBG: Battlegrounds.
Game Science announced that Black Myth: Wukong sold 10 million units, derived from data as of August 23, 2024, at 9 PM (UTC+8), and reached 3 million concurrent players across all platforms. This made it one of the fastest-selling titles of all time given the timeframe. The physical editions were in high demand, with 700 thousand people signed up to purchase a supply of only 30 thousand units on the retailer JD.com for example.
Hero Games CEO Daniel Wu, an investor, shared to Bloomberg that Black Myth: Wukong had sold 18 million units within two weeks. Bloomberg described this as "one of the fastest starts the global gaming industry has seen." Sony revealed that it was the most-downloaded PlayStation 5 game in North America (United States and Canada), Europe, and Japan during August 2024.
During the Tokyo Game Show in September 2024, Ken Kutaragi, former CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, noted that Black Myth: Wukong sold 20 million units in the first month. On October 1, 2024, during the Unreal Fest Seattle, Epic Games' Unreal Engine VP & GM Bill Clifford revealed that the game surpassed 20 million units sold the previous week and showed a video message from Feng Ji, who conveyed that one of their best decisions may have been to develop the game on Unreal Engine and that they will continue to collaborate closely with Epic Games and create the next generation of immersive virtual experiences.
Black Myth: Wukong received awards, referred to as kasayas in fan communities, from different awards ceremonies. Beth Park, recognized for her role as a lead performance director on the game, was selected as a BAFTA Breakthrough in 2024.
Black Myth: Wukong is widely regarded as the first AAA game from the Chinese video game industry. Nikkei Asia reports that it is seen as a new standard bearer for games in the Chinese video game industry, which is dominated by mobile games but gradually shifting toward console games, and could inspire Chinese developers to pursue ambitious projects that draw international audiences. For instance, Soulframe Liang, the director of Phantom Blade Zero, said that people would be confident about other games in their industry if Black Myth: Wukong succeeds in the domestic and international market and that he thought that it would indeed be a large success. The Diplomat reports that the success of Black Myth: Wukong reflects a broader trend of the Chinese video game industry, following their Japanese and Korean counterparts, to harness organic popularity to stimulate global appeal of creative and cultural exports. The South China Morning Post reports that analysts expect the success of the game to positively impact the Chinese video game industry, as government agencies may become more inclined to encourage domestic studios to pursue AAA projects. For example, as Reuters notes, the Chinese state media's highly positive response to the game signals a recognition of the industry's potential value in terms of both culture and export.
The popularity of Black Myth: Wukong boosted PlayStation 5 sales in the Chinese market. For instance, sales reached the top for video game hardware and doubled compared to the same period last year on Tmall in the week leading up to the game's launch. Former PlayStation Studios President Shuhei Yoshida, in the context of sales in China, commented that "In fact, I saw some news that after the release of Black Myth: Wukong last year, there were no PS5s left to buy. It sold out!" Sony revealed that third-party titles, specifically mentioning Black Myth: Wukong and another game, were key contributors to the increased sales in their Game and Network Services division during the three-month period ended September 30, 2024.
Black Myth: Wukong led to a substantial increase in tourism to the real-world locations featured in its scenes. It also ignited a higher global interest in other media related to the Journey to the West. Some characters, such as the Fourth Sister and Pingping, became popular subjects for cosplay.