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Opinion | Why China's video game industry needs more titles like Black Myth: Wukong

China has long had a difficult relationship with video games.

On the one hand, the video game industry is under scrutiny by the authorities – only three years ago an official newspaper accused the sector of “spiritual opium” for Chinese youth. On the other hand, a boom in the industry in recent years has made games a lucrative business.

But this tension dissolved as if by magic with the arrival of Black Myth: Wukongprobably the most successful computer game ever produced in China. The so-called AAA title, which cost “a lot of time, a lot of money and a lot of resources” to produce, was a great success not only commercially but also politically.

Since its release on August 20, over 10 million copies of the game have been sold. and pays developers and investors attractive returns. Its greatest success, however, is political, with state media showering the title with more praise than any other video game ever received in the country.

The government has many reasons Wu Kong. First of all, the game is completely Chinese. The plot is adapted from Journey to the Westone of the four greatest works of classical Chinese literature. Its main protagonist, the Monkey King, is a household name in the country. The game features images of real Chinese temples and relics and plays Chinese folk music in the background.

For many players, the game is an unprecedented digital masterpiece deeply rooted in Chinese culture. Its popularity among foreign players fuels hopes that the game could become a powerful tool to boost China's soft power on the world stage.

Wukong has broken long-standing norms of the domestic gaming industry.

China's unpleasant censors, for example, seem to have tolerated many of the game's violent and grim images, from pools of blood to headless monks, in order to preserve the game's unique feel. And in a country where video games are considered evil – one of the alleged “sins” of Sun Zhengcai, a former party secretary of Chongqing who serve a life sentencewas addicted to a popular mobile game – Wukong was not only tolerated but accepted.

China's social media is awash with video clips showing fathers enlisting their teenage children to help them defeat the game's bosses, but this runs counter to mainland China's regulations that limit children under 18 to playing video games for three hours a week, Friday to Sunday.

The meaning of WukongThe success of is that it has brought video games to the status they deserve. It has boosted the morale of the Chinese gaming industry tremendously, as Wukong has shown them that creativity can be rewarded both financially and politically. This luxury was once out of reach for most of the talent in the country's video game industry. For many years, China's game developers and entrepreneurs were viewed as morally questionable.

02:09

Who is the Monkey King “Wukong” in China’s hit AAA video game?

Who is the Monkey King “Wukong” in China’s hit AAA video game?

However, it remains to be seen whether the political capital that Wukong may lead to a significant loosening of state control over the gaming industry. China continues to maintain a strict licensing and censorship mechanism for games, which creates great uncertainty for studiosespecially for large productions such as Wukong.

Wukong received its license in February of this year. Who knows what would have happened if it had not received the permit in time?

For the Chinese video game industry Wukong is a belated glimmer of hope. The market is reaching its peak, if not already, due to the shrinking youth population and weak consumer spending. Big names like Wukongwhich typically require many hours of dedicated gameplay are falling out of fashion as gamers prefer to spend more time and money on smartphone titles.

For all these reasons, the success of Wukong is worth celebrating. But let's not forget, China's gaming industry needs more titles like Wukong thrive.

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