Black Myth: Wukong is a Dark Souls-style action RPG that retelles the story of Sun Wukong, the protagonist of the Chinese cultural masterpiece Journey to the West. In August 2020, its first trailer sparked a warm response from players around the world, accumulating nearly 2 million views on YouTube in just one day after its release, and 10 million views on the Chinese video site B.
However, the reason why Hangzhou-based independent studio Game Science released the trailer for "Black Myth: Wukong" is not to promote the game. As Game Science founder Feng Ji explained on Weibo, the company's original intention was to use trailers to attract potential employees, and he admitted that there were some technical flaws in the game's graphics. Still, that 13-minute trailer caused a huge sensation in the player community, and in the view of Li Zhen, founder of Chinese publisher HotMain Games, it also directly promoted the global popularity of "Black Myth: Wukong".
"When Game Science first released the trailer for Black Myth: Wukong, it didn't even contact IGN, but just posted the video on Weibo and B..." Li Said, "Everyone was talking about it (Black Myth: Wukong)," so IGN also took the trailer and introduced: 'Oh, there's an action game from China that no one has heard of, and it looks a lot like a next-generation AAA masterpiece.'" Shortly after IGN released the trailer on its website, it went viral all over the world. ”
In recent years, Chinese online media have often talked about "domestic AAA" games, and "Black Myth: Wukong" is just one of them. In fact, works such as the open-world RPG game "Original God", the sci-fi simulation game "Dyson Ball Project" and the tactical competitive game "Forever Doom" have all received wide praise from players around the world, and are considered to have AAA-level product quality and completion, which has also changed the impression of overseas players on Chinese games to a certain extent.
"Foreign players don't think Chinese companies are going to make these quality games because we're not known for (developing) games that focus on gameplay or quality, but more on things like microtransactions and monetization models, right?" Li Added, "China is the largest gaming market in the world, but it's not respected because we have so many mobile games and PC games that are only focused on how to make money. ”
For a long time, the Chinese market was flooded with free-to-play mobile games with plenty of in-app purchase options, but the trend seems to be quietly changing: some Chinese developers are starting to make quality games for global players, not just domestic players. For example, games such as Shadow Torch City and Late Ming Dynasty: Feathers of the Void rely less on paid design and instead attract players with adrenaline-pumping action gameplay, realistic graphics, and engaging stories.
In a sense, changes in the overall landscape of China's game market, including the lifting of the ban on sales of home consoles, are the main drivers behind this trend. In 2015, with the 15-year ban on game consoles lifted, Companies such as Microsoft and Sony began selling consoles in China. While console sales in China have been weak — last year, the Chinese console market revenue was just $1.84 billion, well below the $29.2 billion revenue of the mobile game market — the demand for consoles from Chinese players is growing, driven by rising disposable incomes in Urban China. For Chinese game developers, the console market represents a potential opportunity.
On the other hand, many Chinese players have begun to love games with rich plots. "I do think that the reason why Chinese players are looking forward to narrative games more than in the past is because many of them have become wealthy and have more disposable income." Josh Ye, a reporter for the South China Morning Post, explains, "After all, story-centric games tend to lead to better experiences. ”
Another reason is that in China, it is becoming increasingly difficult for local developers to obtain game titles. Daniel Ahmed, senior analyst at market research firm Niko Partners, noted that the number of games that are approved for release each year on China's major game platforms is limited. "Since 2018, only about 1,200 games have been approved each year." "If you're a Chinese publisher, you definitely want to focus your resources on the best performing games in the market, rather than trying to release everything...", he explains.
Josh Ye also believes that given the scarcity of version numbers, local Chinese developers are likely to invest more time and resources to make the best quality games. "This will force many developers to work hard to improve the quality of the game, because they know that only a very small number of game companies can get the version number, and the competition is very fierce." Driven by this mentality, companies such as Tencent and NetEase are likely to prefer to create large-scale AAA games and show their research and development strength. I believe that in the next few years, there will be more top quality games in the Chinese market. ”
Ahmed believes that the reason why "Protoss" is popular with players around the world is largely because the game not only spreads East Asian culture, but also integrates the gameplay, look and feel and aesthetic familiar to players around the world. "In the case of Harashin, they [Miha You] created a work that feels like a console game, plays like a console game, but actually expands the gameplay from a mobile game." Ahmed said, "Many developers with rich experience in developing mobile games and PC online games are learning this knowledge, trying to reach a large base of potential overseas players through PC and console platforms." ”
It should also not be overlooked that AAA companies such as EA and Microsoft have set up R&D teams in China in recent years and let them develop some content for the company's games. In the process, many Chinese developers have accumulated the knowledge and skills needed to build AAA games. "Some high-quality domestic games may come from companies that you can't even imagine." "Many studios are small in scale, but they have accumulated rich experience in outsourcing art and technology for foreign AAA companies, and are now making their own games, and have received support from many investment companies," Li said. ”
Ahmed said that in the context of China's free-to-play mobile game market tends to saturate, Chinese players are eager to play more categories of domestic games, which is one of the reasons why China's quality games have recently ushered in the rise. "In China, many games have adopted the F2P model, and the design method is similar, always drawing inspiration from traditional MMO categories, themes or gameplay styles... Over time, the entire market gradually became saturated. As a result, there is huge room for growth in games with different categories, styles, themes, or business models, and many developers are creating paid games and even subscribing to these aspects. ”
For Chinese developers, especially those with smaller teams, this is not a simple task. They need to find ways to make their games discovered by more players and overcome language barriers, so that they have a chance to attract players around the world. However, according to Ahmed, a growing number of Chinese publishers are starting to work with local developers who create games for the global market. "Some development teams have accepted investment from Tencent or other Chinese publishers, while others have focused on providing domestic development teams with a full suite of solutions, covering localization, marketing, and more."
"If you study the history of game science for the developers of Black Myth: Wukong, you will find that its core members left Tencent at the time when they were working on another free online game with a Journey to the West theme." "Game science wants to create a story-oriented stand-alone pay-per-view game that doesn't have to rely too much on a large player base or a radical monetization model, but can focus on building a single product and then releasing it to the public," Ahmed said. ”
"Chinese developers are using all the experience they've gained over the past 20 years, and China will no longer be seen as the world's outsourcing hub, but will start producing its own content."