Black Myth: Wukong Surges Past 2M Players On Steam To Claim Single-Player Record

The highly anticipated, Tencent-backed game Black Myth: Wukong has taken Steam by storm, surging past 2 million concurrent players to claim a single-player record. The action RPG surpassed the all-time peaks of games such as Palworld, Elden Ring, Dota 2, Cyberpunk 2077, and Counter-Strike 2, representing a mix of single-player and multi-player titles.

Black Myth: Wukong is an action RPG rooted in Chinese mythology, and is based on Journey to the West, one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. Players set out as the Destined One, as they “traverse an array of breathtaking and distinctive landscapes from the classic tale.” The games roots in Chinese culture may be driving much of the traffic, as reports from Game Discover Co indicate a little over 88% of the early players were from China, with just 3% being from the US.
The company behind the game, Game Science, was founded in 2014 by former Tencent employee Feng Ji. It was able to gain the backing of several investors, including Ji’s former employer Tencent, and mobile game publisher Hero Entertainment. Other companies have taken advantage of the game’s popularity as well with marketing efforts incorporating elements inspired by Black Myth: Wukong, including Lenovo Group, Luckin Coffee, and Didi.

The game has not been without controversy, with reports of CEO Feng Ji using misogynistic language in posts, as well as IGN reporting about the studio’s alleged history with sexism. Over the weekend, a leaked image sent to influencers appeared on social media as well, showing the company asking influencers to not include “politics,” “feminist propaganda,” or make references to Covid-19 in their coverage of the game.


Even with the negative attention, the game has been well received on Steam, with reviews being “Overwhelmingly Positive.” TLandry remarked, “Visually stunning. Despite saying better on a controller, I actually like playing the game on my mouse and keyboard.” While Ronin-MonoLogue chimed in by posting, “I’m sure the Western gaming press didn’t give ‘Black Myth: Wukong’ the rating it deserved. It’s not because I’m a Chinese gamer that I blindly praised my country for creating a work of art.”

When it comes to how some websites have rated the new title, examples include PC Gamer giving it a score of 87/100, IGN ranking it 8/10, and Game Rant posting a score of 6/10. Windows Central, which gave the game a score of 7/10, remarked, “Ultimately, Black Myth: Wukong is a very solid action RPG, complete with thrilling cinematic boss fights, diverse, gorgeously rendered locales, a rich combat system replete with build options, and a well-told story. However, it holds itself back with bland level design and disappointing enemy variety, along with a superfluous gear system and a few noteworthy performance issues.”

No matter what scores Black Myth: Wukong receives, the game is off to a tremendous start. Also, at the end of the day, the only opinion that will matter is the individual gamer who is sinking their time and money into it. Have any of you taken on the role of the Destined One yet? If so, let us know your thoughts on the game so far in the comments.