Summary
Black Myth: Wukongexperienced a significant surge in player numbers last Saturday, December 14, with many influenced by its recognition at The Game Awards 2024 along with the game’s producer’s comments. The Game Science title had already maintained impressive numbers for a single-player game, but winning Best Action Game of 2024 and the Player’s Voice category seems to have brought even more attention toBlack Myth: Wukong.
Black Myth: Wukongwas nominated for Best Action Game, Best Art Direction, Best Game Direction, and Game of the Year at this year’s Game Awards ceremony. It took home the award for Best Action Game and the Player’s Voice, a fan-voted category. However,Black Myth: Wukonglost Best Art Direction toMetaphor: ReFantazioand both Best Game Direction and Game of the Year toAstro Bot. All in all, The Game Awards 2024 was widely praised as one of the best shows in recent years, both for its announcements and for giving winners more time for their acceptance speeches. However, not everyone was happy with the results, asBlack Myth: Wukong’s producer publicly questioned the criteriafor Game of the Year.
Although producer Feng Ji’s comments sparked some backlash, it seems there’s no such thing as bad publicity. His remarks, combined with the game’s awards, appear to have contributed toBlack Myth: Wukongseeing a significant spike in player numbers according toSteamDB. The game, which had been seeing an average of 70,000 concurrent players daily, jumped to 213,882 on December 14 and has since stabilized at around 150,000 throughout the week. While this is a far cry from thetwo million concurrent playersBlack Myth: Wukongachieved at launch, they are still impressive numbers for a single-player game.
Black Myth: Wukong Concurrent Player Count Spikes
However, neither the game’s producer nor its fans took into account that sales numbers don’t necessarily translate to being named the best game of the year. Following Swen Vincke’s speech andAstro Bot’sGame of the Year win,Black Myth: Wukongfans review-bombedBaldur’s Gate 3. Most of the negative comments onBaldur’s Gate 3’s Steam page currently seem to have come from players in China. Since The Game Awards is conducted in English, mistranslation may have played a role in the backlash, and users may have misinterpreted Vincke’s points. Alternatively, it could simply be fans venting their frustration thatBlack Myth: Wukongdidn’t win Game of the Year and taking it out onBaldur’s Gate 3as a proxy, given thatAstro Botisn’t available on Steam.
Ultimately,Black Myth: Wukongisn’t the only game getting a boost after The Game Awards. ManyTGA-nominated titles also saw sales spikes, even if they didn’t win any awards. Following the announcement of the Game of The Year finalists,Final Fantasy VII Rebirthsaw a 268% sales boost, whileMetaphor: ReFantaziosaw a 172% increase. While some in the gaming community have voiced their dislike for the award show, this year’s event triggered some massive traffic and set the stage for what’s to come in 2025 and beyond.
Black Myth: Wukong
WHERE TO PLAY
Black Myth: Wukong is an action RPG rooted in Chinese mythology and based on Journey to the West, one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature.You shall set out as the Destined One to venture into the challenges and marvels ahead, to uncover the obscured truth beneath the veil of a glorious legend from the past.As the Destined One, you shall encounter powerful foes and worthy rivals throughout your journey. Fearlessly engage them in epic battles where surrender is not an option.Aside from mastering various staff techniques, you may also freely combine different spells, abilities, weapons, and equipment to find the winning strategy that best suits your combat style.
