How Black Myth Wukong rose from a "worst" business model
How Black Myth Wukong rose from a "worst" business model
The story behind the scenes, and implications for China's future gaming industry
Black Myth: Wukong has captivated the gaming world since its release on August 19. With over 3 million copies sold on Steam as of August 20, and more than 4.5 million copies across WeGame, Epic, and PlayStation platforms, it generated over 1.5 billion yuan in revenue, breaking even on the first day. The game peaked at over 2.4 million concurrent players shortly after launch, breaking records both in China and globally.
This success has been eagerly awaited by Chinese game developers and players alike, especially given the widespread frustration with the domestic gaming industry, which many feel is saturated with low-quality, gambling-like mobile games.
A popular saying has been circulating on Chinese social media since Black Myth Wukong's launch: "I've been an assassin in Egypt, a monster hunter in another world, a dragon slayer, and a knight—I've been everything. Now, I finally see hope. I can return to my own country's fantasy world and be the Monkey King."
Wukong represents more than just commercial success; it embodies the long-awaited hopes of Chinese game developers and gamers. AAA games (a lot of time, a lot of resources, a lot of money), —those with significant financial backing, resources, and development time—have traditionally been dominated by studios in Europe, the U.S., and Japan. Black Myth Wukong's commercial success signifies a shift, proving that China can now produce top-tier, artistic games.
The "worst" business model - Black Myth: Wukong wasn't born from a surefire path to success
Game Science, the studio behind the game, spent seven years developing it—despite the fact that AAA games are often considered the "worst" business model in the industry. AAA games require massive investments and long development cycles, yet they can only be sold as one-time purchases. In contrast, mobile games, which offer continuous microtransactions, are seen as less risky, providing a more stable revenue stream.
Game Science's founder, Feng Ji, chose to take the more difficult path. Frustrated with the gambling-like mobile games that dominate the Chinese market—where the focus is on getting players to become addicted and maximizing monetization rather than player experience—Feng was determined from the start to create a game that would deliver a memorable experience - a game more akin to a work of art.
For Feng Ji and his team, this was a 7-year gamble, a true "all or nothing" situation. Black Myth: Wukong was born out of that risk, a bold decision to pursue passion and high standards over profit.
How Black Myth was born
In February 2007, Feng Ji, at just 25 years old, made his first mark in the gaming industry with a bold manifesto against online games. In his article titled Who Murdered Our Games?, he asked, "Should we treat players like livestock?" He wrote in a fiery and personal tone, criticizing the online gaming industry for spawning a group of people like himself, who were constantly focused on five key issues: how to keep players addicted, how to make them spend more money, how to get them to form alliances, how to pit players against each other, and how to enable "hidden" cash gambling.
At that time, the Chinese gaming industry was almost entirely dominated by pay-to-win games like Zhengtu. Feng Ji's company had internal debates, but in the end, the question became, "Should we also be as greedy as Zhengtu?" A year later, Feng Ji joined Tencent. During his six years there, he oversaw the operations of Xunxian and led the development of 斗战神 Dou Zhan Shen as the chief planner. Dou Zhan Shen already hinted at the direction of Feng's later work: its development took two to three times longer than average, and it had the largest team and resources. The game even achieved the technical characteristics of World of Warcraft and Diablo III through a self-developed engine. After Feng left Tencent, Asura eventually became a pure pay-to-win game, though that was a later development.
In June 2014, Feng Ji founded Game Science. That year, Tencent had shifted its focus entirely to mobile games. Over the next four years, Game Science explored its place in the industry. To survive, Feng Ji's first project was 100 Heros, a mobile game that mimicked Dota Legend but featured original art. This was followed by Art of War: Red Tides. These games helped Game Science overcome short-term survival challenges, and the latter even secured 60 million yuan in angel funding from Hero Games.
Everything seemed to be on track. However, the team suddenly realized that if they didn't create a single-player game soon, they might never get the chance. "A person's golden creative years might only last a few years," co-founder Yang Qi said in an interview.
"If we don't create something good now, we might never get the chance in this lifetime." Feng Ji later remarked that everything has its cause and effect—without their experience in mobile games, without the resources provided by the mature business world, and without China's vast consumer market, there would have been no opportunity to make a game like Black Myth: Wukong today.
(above translated from the article by 36Kr)
Feng Ji and Game Science's journey mirrors Wukong's own: that of a "practical idealist." They recognized the practical challenges but refused to go with the flow. Instead, they took full responsibility for their actions and fought for their true destiny—echoing the themes of rebellion and cause and effect, the two core ideas in Wukong's story.
"Romanticism is our core strength"
To Feng Ji and his team, "romanticism" means giving everything a try, even if the idea is eventually abandoned. For example, the team designed over 200 monsters, far more than a standard AAA game, despite facing significant technical challenges.
They were committed to pushing the boundaries of innovation and refining the user experience. To deliver top-tier visuals and hyperrealistic scenes, the team spent more than four years scanning hundreds of ancient temples and historic architecture across China to recreate them 1:1 in the game, bringing the breathtaking architectural heritage to life.
In the game, players can see Yan-style calligraphy of the Diamond Sutra carved into cliffs, Western Xia dynasty's steles standing on northern plains, and weathered Buddha statues with broken arms...
During the first year of scanning, Yang Qi and his team scouted locations and finalized scanning plans. They captured Tang Dynasty wooden structures like the Foguang Temple and other architectural gems from the Wei, Jin, Song, and even Ming and Qing dynasties.
In the first year of scanning, Yang Qi and his partners in the scanning team visited various locations to determine the scanning plan. Based on his memories of the ancient Chinese art history course in college, he selected a group of Tang Dynasty wooden buildings. "There are very few. If there is one, we will put one in." He scanned buildings such as Foguang Temple. Next are the buildings and statues from the Wei and Jin Dynasties to the Song Dynasty, and then the utensils from the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
At many scanning sites, Yang Qi and his team stood in awe of the buildings and statues. These artworks, shaped by generations over centuries, had been restored dozens of times and weathered by the passage of time, resulting in colors and textures that were nearly impossible to replicate.
Yang Qi instructed the 3D team to preserve every detail they scanned, including current colors, damaged corners, weathered elements, and even the grass and wire embedded in the statues. "Looking at it through today's lens while also observing time itself—this is an incredible thing," Yang Qi said.
In this sense, Black Myth: Wukong can be seen as a "Chinese tourism simulator." ...
To date, the team's library of scanned materials exceeds the actual needs of the game by six to seven times. Game Science plans to make this material library open to the world.
(above translated from the article by 南方人物周刊; some paragraphs redacted for conciseness)
When scanning the Gaoping Iron Buddha Temple in Shanxi, the team was captivated by the exquisite Ming Dynasty Buddha statues inside the ancient temple but had to abandon the scan due to the confined space, which could potentially damage the relics. Instead, Yang Qi and his team manually recreated the statues from photographs, painstakingly restoring them stroke by stroke. However, Yang Qi felt that they had only captured 3/10 of the impact of the original Iron Buddha Temple statues.
Feng Ji once said, "Doing only what's within your abilities is boring. Many people come here because they want to create something amazing. If you have big professional ambitions, if you want to be the best in the world, then whenever you see someone else's work, you'll want to do better. That's the right mindset! We don't want to settle for mediocrity. You need that kind of spirit. This is a form of romanticism. Pursuing this romantic path can sometimes lead to painful failures, but it's also what gives us our core strength."
What does Black Myth Wukong mean for the future of China's gaming industry?
The success of Black Myth: Wukong inevitably raises the question: does this game represent the norm for Chinese game developers, or is it merely an outlier? When will the next blockbuster AAA game emerge?
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