The marketing efforts behind Black Myth: Wukong’s phenomenal debut

Black Myth: Wukong, a role-playing game rooted in Chinese mythology, was released on August 20. And already, the game has managed to achieve a record number of impressions on Weibo, and sold about 4.5 million copies across major gaming platforms such as Steam, Wegame, Epic, and PS. The day after its release, over 2.2 million concurrent players were recorded playing the game on Steam, marking it the most-played single-player game ever.

Black Myth: Wukong is an action role-playing game developed and published by Game Science. The story is adapted from the Chinese classical novel Journey to the West which depicts the pilgrimage of the Tang dynasty Buddhist monk Xuanzang. Xuanzang traveled to India, referred to as the West, to obtain Buddhist scriptures, and was accompanied by his three disciples, including Sun Wukong, also known as the Monkey King.

So what’s driving the game’s sensational success?  Campaign reached out to branding consulting expert Jolin Guan, associate partner at Prophet, who said that millions are drawn to the game not merely because of its successful marketing, but because of the compelling brand storytelling and empathy woven throughout the journey leading up to its official launch.

She added that the team who worked on the game production and design has likely read Journey to the West over a hundred times, as the world of ‘Spirit Mountain’ in the game story is rich with Chinese cultural references specific to the novel.

“[The team] examined the origins and designs of all the demons and gods [portrayed], visited hundreds of mountains, rivers, temples, shrines and gravestones, and turned over thousands of cultural writings on the Han, Tang, Song and Ming dynasties, as well as drew drafts of the original paintings too numerous to count,” said Guan. “It is said that there are over 1.2 billion models just for the armours of the Great Sage, or Monkey King. The team also resigned from their previous jobs, sold their properties to invest in the game, and went on without any new income for four to five years.”

To Guan, the lesson behind such a huge success story like Game Science is sticking to one’s brand philosophy and bringing it to reality. 

Unsurprisingly, Chinese consumers were moved by this origin story. According to data from Alibaba Group, Black Myth: Wukong became the top search topic on Taobao, with searches for the keyword increasing by 1,380% on the day of its launch compared to the previous Tuesday.

Additionally, the game boosted sales across various brands and platforms, from PlayStation and collaborative products with other brands to tourist destinations.

Sales of the PS5 console at Sony PlayStation’s official Tmall flagship store surged by over 100% year-on-year during the week leading up to the game’s debut. Overall, Tmall’s 3C digital home game console turnover increased by more than 80% year-on-year. From August 16 to 19, the PS5 console was the top-selling video game equipment for four consecutive days. Additionally, searches for the PS5 on Taobao’s second-hand platform, Xianyu, skyrocketed by over 300% since August, with the number of transactions reaching a new high for the year.

Additionally, Luckin Coffee collaborated with Black Myth: Wukong following its successful partnership with Moutai last year. This time, the collaboration merchandise were sold out in mere seconds. The brand announced it would take 15 days to restock, leading to some online backlash.

Among the 36 tourist destinations featured in Black Myth: Wukong, 27 are located in Shanxi Province. On August 20, ticket sales for one of the most famous Buddhist temples, Xiaoxitian (Little Western Paradise), surged by over 300% compared to the same day last year. 

Other brands such as Lenovo and Didi also joined in to celebrate the launch of Black Myth: Wukong in their promotional campaigns.

China’s gaming industry returned to double-digit growth last December following two years of regulatory crackdowns. Based on NewZoo’s latest global games market report from last week, the global games market is expected to generate $187.7 billion in 2024, reflecting a 2.1% year-on-year increase. The number of gamers worldwide is projected to reach 3.42 billion in 2024, up by 4.5% from the previous year. PC gaming revenues are anticipated to grow by 4.0% year-on-year, surpassing both mobile and console gaming. However, console gaming is predicted to experience a resurgence in 2025.