Produced by the Chinese game developer "Game Science" using the Unreal 5 engine, and based on the classic "Journey to the West", it will create an action role-playing game full of mythical worlds of immortals, Buddhas and monsters, "Black Myth: Wukong" is expected to be released in Taiwan It will be officially launched at 10 am on August 20th.
With its high development cost and long development cycle, the game is known as China's first AAA game masterpiece. It is highly anticipated by Chinese players, calling it the "light of domestic games". It is known as the Chinese version of "God of War" and "Ai". "Elden Ring", players will play the character Sun Wukong in Chinese mythology and defeat the monsters that are ravaging the world.
Global download bandwidth breaks "Dian Yu Ben Ke 2077" record
Just last night (18th), "Black Myth: Wukong" has been opened for pre-download on PC and PS5 platforms. Netizen Pirat_Nation tweeted last night that the bandwidth used for pre-downloading of "Black Myth: Wukong" on Steam has exceeded 2020 The bandwidth of the pre-download of "Dynasty 2077" in 2017.
According to the picture, the peak reached by "Dianyu 2077" in December 2020 was 51 Tbps. "Black Myth: Wukong" set a global record of 70 Tbps after opening for pre-download, breaking the record held by "Dynasty 2077" for more than 3 years.
Of course, download bandwidth data cannot be used as a criterion for judging sales, because the recommended storage capacity of "Black Myth: Wukong" is 130GB (the actual download is about 118GB); the recommended storage capacity of "Dianyubanke 2077" is 70GB (the actual download is about 63GB) (excluding later updates and DLC). "Black Myth: Wukong" requires nearly twice the storage space of the latter, so the download bandwidth is naturally much higher than that of "Dian Yu Ben Ke 2077". The actual sales volume can only wait for subsequent developers to disclose it.
Download bandwidth breaks record, thanks to Chinese netizens
In addition, from the above picture, we can further find that the vast majority of the global download bandwidth of "Black Myth: Wukong" comes from Asia. Considering that this 3A masterpiece is highly praised by Chinese netizens, spontaneous action support from Chinese game players is essential. Here are some situations where Chinese players are crazy about "Black Myth: Wukong":
1. Netizens want to buy even if they borrow money
With the entire Chinese gaming community going crazy about "Black Myth: Wukong", it would definitely be a regret not to play the domestic 3A masterpiece on its official launch day. In this regard, a netizen on the social platform Weibo said:
@Black Myth: Wukong supports domestic 3A masterpieces! ! Even if you borrow money, you have to buy it.
2. Playing games during company holidays
In addition, in order to celebrate the launch of "Black Myth: Wukong", some companies have a day off on the day of launch (20th). However, employees must have pre-ordered "Black Myth: Wukong" and the device hardware (PC, PS5) must also pass performance tests.
3. Luckin co-branded poster flash sale
In addition, the Chinese coffee chain Luckin Coffee recently announced its cooperation with "Black Myth: Wukong". The joint peripheral products sold by Luckin, including the "Black Myth: Wukong Package 3D limited posters", were all sold out instantly. Yang Fei, the growth director of Luckin Coffee, said in surprise on Weibo today:
It was sold out all over the country in seconds, and the system almost crashed. The purchasing power of men has subverted the team's perception this morning, and it is more reliable than 10 Father's Days.
A masterpiece that is frequently controversial and touches on sensitive issues
However, when the whole country went crazy about "Black Myth: Wukong", the work also caused a lot of controversy. According to previous reports from Dongzhong, on the eve of the release of "Black Myth: Wukong", some netizens broke the news and posted old photos saying that Yang Qi, the game's producer and art designer, had flashed his middle fingers in Tiananmen Square, China in 2018. This old photo It was Yang Qi who publicly posted it on Weibo at that time. Although it was deleted afterwards, it was backed up by netizens. Netizens angrily cursed, "You puked, the black myth died violently" and "Traitors should not eat patriotic food if they have the ability."
Anti-China comments appear on Steam
In addition, a large number of anti-China remarks in Chinese suddenly appeared on the "Black Myth: Wukong" discussion board on Steam, which is headquartered in Washington State, USA. They are suspected of satirizing political figures, including saying "I will continue to Black Myth Wukong serves as the Jade Emperor, please raise your hands if you disagree", "The Jade Emperor cannot be re-elected", "The Jade Emperor's instructions on the upcoming release of Black Myth", etc.
Some people also questioned why Chinese games were put on U.S. game malls and began to label Steam as an "illegal overseas platform." Later, relevant remarks and a large number of posts criticizing the Chinese authorities and leaders were removed. Some netizens joked that "it has become "Xi Jinping has banned comments", "Wu Chengen smiled, reality and myth are highly coincident", "No one can play if the game is banned".
Are Western ratings unfair to Chinese games?
The game content of "Black Myth: Wukong" is also controversial. The media review of the game was lifted on the evening of the 16th. IGN China gave a perfect score of 10. Metacritic combined 54 media scores and the average score was 82, which is quite good, but one of them Foreign media ScreenRant gave it a score of 3 out of 5 (equivalent to 60 points).
ScreenRant commented that the game "largely lacks inclusivity and diversity", with the reviewer stating:
The game's lack of diversity and inclusion has also been linked to disparaging comments made by developers about women playing their games, and while Black Myth: Wukong does have its enjoyable moments, in my opinion Throughout the entire gaming experience, there is an underlying feeling that the world is not welcoming to women.
However, in the eyes of Chinese officials and nationalists, this is an attempt by the West, led by the United States, to use feminism to ideologically infiltrate China. A Chinese commentary article criticized this as "using the West's politically correct stance to judge China's game. It’s really biased for the media.”
Potential meme coin material for the game
However, due to the high popularity of "Black Myth: Wukong", a large number of related meme coins have emerged in the crypto. There are even trading pairs with TVL exceeding one million US dollars. The meme coin Wukong with the same name has surged by more than 38% in a single day. But there is also a meme coin with the same name that fell by 19% in a single day.
However, it should be noted that it is speculated that these tokens have no official relationship with "Black Myth: Wukong", and it is impossible to clarify at this stage whether the creator of the tokens has anything to do with the manufacturer Game Science.
However, besides Wukong himself, will there be potential meme material in the game? In this regard, Dongzhong has sorted out several potential candidates:
Destiny: Although the story of this game is based on " Journey to the West ", the player who plays the role at the beginning of the game is not the great sage Sun Wukong, but another man called "Destiny Man" who was born in Huaguo Mountain. monkey. In order to explore the "destiny", he embarked on a journey to the west full of dangers and surprises. In addition, the term "Destiny" is also closely related to the revival of Chinese games. Perhaps "Black Myth: Wukong" itself has the destiny to revive Chinese games.
Game Science : The game developer who created "Black Myth: Wukong". If the game successfully attracts widespread attention around the world, the game developer will be indispensable.
Shi Mu : Many game critics said that the world view of the game "Black Myth: Wukong" has the potential to not welcome women. In addition, some game critics pointed out that although the characters in the first two chapters of the game are fictional fantasy creatures, there are no female or feminine NPCs, enemies, or BOSSs. The only exception is the BOSS "Stone Mother". If "Black Myth: Wukong" is discussed because of the lack of female elements in the game, the level of discussion of "Stone Mother" may increase.
In addition, after the game is released, it is expected to trigger another wave of discussion on social media. Various memes, memes, and second-generation works will emerge in an endless stream. The game may also trigger disputes between Eastern and Western aesthetics and culture, which will undoubtedly create a new atmosphere for the game. The meme coin of the same name has brought extremely high exposure and popularity, but the price of meme coins fluctuates greatly and the investment risk is extremely high. We remind you not to blindly follow the trend and invest with caution.
