Will Black Myth: Wukong gaming mania mark a turning point for China’s soft power fortunes?
- Success of action game based on 16th century classic seen to highlight how China can pursue its often ‘heavily assailed soft power agenda’
The sprawling 3D role-playing game became the second most popular “sandbox” distributed by US platform Steam within hours, trailing only PUBG, the 2017 shooter game that peaked at 3.2 million.
Analysts said the runaway success of the game – based on the eponymous Monkey King character from the 16th-century Chinese novel Journey to the West – showed how China’s creative workers could shore up cultural confidence.
It also highlighted an alternative way to take forward China’s often “heavily assailed soft power agenda”, one observer said.
Data shared by industry trackers VG Insights showed the game had sold 10 million units by Saturday evening in China, with 3 million concurrent players across all platforms.
Asked whether a gamified Wukong could be considered to be an “ambassador” for China, foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said on Wednesday that a game seemingly inspired by the Chinese classic spoke “to the appeal of Chinese culture”.
