Black Myth: Wukong breaks Steam’s concurrent single-player record within hours of launch

Black Myth: Wukong breaks Steam’s concurrent single-player record within hours of launch

<a data-i13n="cpos:1;pos:1" href="https://www.engadget.com/black-myth-wukong-hands-on-preview-sgf-2024-133059684.html">Black Myth: Wukong[/url], considered China’s first true AAA game, has <a data-i13n="elm:context_link;elmt:doNotAffiliate;cpos:2;pos:1" class="no-affiliate-link" href="https://steamdb.info/charts/" data-original-link="https://steamdb.info/charts/">broken[/url] Steam’s concurrent players record for a single-player title, passing <a data-i13n="cpos:3;pos:1" href="https://www.engadget.com/cyberpunk-2077-review-sexy-sweet-000224489.html">Cyberpunk 2077[/url] for the single-player record. In addition, it’s now the game with the second-most all-time concurrent players to date (including multiplayer), moving past <a data-i13n="cpos:4;pos:1" href="https://www.engadget.com/pokemon-with-guns-satire-palworld-launches-in-early-access-on-january-19-185152491.html">Palworld[/url]. Based on the 16th-century novel Journey to the West, the souls-like action-adventure epic peaked at 2,223,179 players.
Industry analyst Simon Carless of GameDiscoverCo <a data-i13n="elm:context_link;elmt:doNotAffiliate;cpos:5;pos:1" class="no-affiliate-link" href="https://x.com/simoncarless/status/1825818693751779449" data-original-link="https://x.com/simoncarless/status/1825818693751779449">posted[/url] on X (Twitter) early on Tuesday an estimate that Black Myth: Wukong’s regional breakdown heavily favored its home country. The agency’s pie graph showed China claiming 88 percent of the game’s players. (In second place was the US at a mere three percent.) Although some interpreted that as potentially showing inflated numbers, the game launched in the middle of the night in the western hemisphere, and Carless’ stats were posted around 5AM ET.
The title’s records come against a backdrop of misogyny and censorship accusations aimed at developer Game Science. Streamers who were granted early access keys were given a (non-legally-binding) document that raised some eyebrows.
<figure><img src="https://s.yimg.com/os/creatr-uploaded-images/2024-08/14a172b0-5f1d-11ef-b3dd-1cf9e1a3db66" data-crop-orig-src="https://s.yimg.com/os/creatr-uploaded-images/2024-08/14a172b0-5f1d-11ef-b3dd-1cf9e1a3db66" style="height:900px;width:1600px;" alt="Screen from Black Myth: Wukong. The hero, a monkey man, chugs a jug of something as an enemy lurks in the background. Snowy environment." data-uuid="741fa591-fc6a-3868-9f31-db9941223e09"><figcaption></figcaption><div class="photo-credit">Game Science / Sony</div></figure>
The document included a list of banned topics the streamers were to avoid discussing while broadcasting gameplay. The New York Times <a data-i13n="elm:context_link;elmt:doNotAffiliate;cpos:6;pos:1" class="no-affiliate-link" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/20/world/asia/chinese-videogame-wukong-censorship.html" data-original-link="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/20/world/asia/chinese-videogame-wukong-censorship.html">reported[/url] that the off-limits subjects included politics, “feminist propaganda,” COVID-19, China’s gaming industry, and anything else that “instigates negative discourse.” (While streamers were given the list, reviewers weren’t.)
Of course, the COVID mention is easily tied to the nation’s <a data-i13n="elm:context_link;elmt:doNotAffiliate;cpos:7;pos:1" class="no-affiliate-link" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/07/world/asia/china-zero-covid-changes.html" data-original-link="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/07/world/asia/china-zero-covid-changes.html">“zero-COVID” restrictions[/url].
As for the “feminist propaganda” restriction for Black Myth: Wukong’s streamers, you can easily draw a straight line from widespread accusations of misogyny from developer Game Science and individuals working there, including some of its cofounders. Among the many instances (summarized <a data-i13n="elm:context_link;elmt:doNotAffiliate;cpos:8;pos:1" class="no-affiliate-link" href="https://www.ign.com/articles/how-black-myth-wukong-developers-history-of-sexism-is-complicating-its-journey-to-the-west" data-original-link="https://www.ign.com/articles/how-black-myth-wukong-developers-history-of-sexism-is-complicating-its-journey-to-the-west">in a 2023 IGN story[/url]) were Game Science recruitment posters from 2015, one of which implied friends with benefits were an office perk and another featuring a dumbbell with the text (translated) “fatties should fuck off.” (Yikes.) The accusations go on from there.
<figure><img src="https://s.yimg.com/os/creatr-uploaded-images/2024-08/8d6c4220-5f1c-11ef-9dbe-7ba8cfdb07ae" data-crop-orig-src="https://s.yimg.com/os/creatr-uploaded-images/2024-08/8d6c4220-5f1c-11ef-9dbe-7ba8cfdb07ae" style="height:1350px;width:2400px;" alt="Screenshot of Black Myth: Wukong, featuring the hero battling a flaming boss." data-uuid="45e849fe-1d30-3e75-8c71-ee3e145aedfa"><figcaption></figcaption><div class="photo-credit">Game Science / Valve</div></figure>
Game Science has <a data-i13n="elm:context_link;elmt:doNotAffiliate;cpos:9;pos:1" class="no-affiliate-link" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/20/world/asia/chinese-videogame-wukong-censorship.html" data-original-link="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/20/world/asia/chinese-videogame-wukong-censorship.html">ties to[/url] the Chinese government, which is no stranger to accusations of misogyny and censorship. To cite only a few examples, the #MeToo hashtag was <a data-i13n="elm:context_link;elmt:doNotAffiliate;cpos:10;pos:1" class="no-affiliate-link" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/23/world/asia/china-women-me-too-censorship.html" data-original-link="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/23/world/asia/china-women-me-too-censorship.html">censored or blocked[/url] on Chinese social platforms during the height of the movement, posts from feminist and LGBTQ+ groups and voices are routinely <a data-i13n="elm:context_link;elmt:doNotAffiliate;cpos:11;pos:1" class="no-affiliate-link" href="https://www.npr.org/2023/10/25/1208391460/china-suppresses-feminist-lgbtq-groups-outside-china-they-seek-to-rebuild" data-original-link="https://www.npr.org/2023/10/25/1208391460/china-suppresses-feminist-lgbtq-groups-outside-china-they-seek-to-rebuild">blocked[/url] or deleted on the country’s social media, feminist perspectives are frequently <a data-i13n="elm:context_link;elmt:doNotAffiliate;cpos:12;pos:1" class="no-affiliate-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/china-japanese-feminist-scholar-chizuko-ueno-3a7ef7a9e8d5a8ed87314fac69ba768d" data-original-link="https://apnews.com/article/china-japanese-feminist-scholar-chizuko-ueno-3a7ef7a9e8d5a8ed87314fac69ba768d">restricted or censored[/url] in China’s academic institutions and activists are no strangers to harassment, surveillance or arrests.
Tencent Holdings, a five-percent stakeholder according to The NY Times, has direct ties to Xi’s government. Meanwhile, the game’s publisher, Zhejiang Publishing & Media, is majority-owned by the Zhejiang provincial government. Finally, Hero Games, the company that sent out the streamer keys on Game Science’s behalf, has financial ties to “several state-owned enterprises,” according to The NYT. Hero Games owns around 20 percent of Game Science.
Some streamers supplied with keys (and the attached red tape) decided not to cover the game. “I have never seen anything that shameful in my 15 years doing this job. This is very clearly a document which explains that we must censor ourselves,” the prominent French streamer Benoit Reinier said (translated) in a <a data-i13n="elm:context_link;elmt:doNotAffiliate;cpos:13;pos:1" class="no-affiliate-link" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVuo-oqw2EU" data-original-link="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVuo-oqw2EU">YouTube video[/url].
In <a data-i13n="cpos:14;pos:1" href="https://www.engadget.com/black-myth-wukong-hands-on-preview-sgf-2024-133059684.html">Engadget’s preview of Black Myth: Wukong[/url] from earlier this summer (which didn’t include provisions about censored topics like streamers received), Mat Smith found the game visually stunning. We found the demo “elevated by how good the environment looks, the bizarre monster design and the quiet, unsettling soundtrack.” The game is available now on <a data-i13n="elm:context_link;elmt:doNotAffiliate;cpos:15;pos:1" class="no-affiliate-link" href="https://store.steampowered.com/app/2358720/Black_Myth_Wukong/" data-original-link="https://store.steampowered.com/app/2358720/Black_Myth_Wukong/">PC[/url] and <a data-i13n="elm:context_link;elmt:doNotAffiliate;cpos:16;pos:1" class="no-affiliate-link" href="https://www.playstation.com/en-us/games/black-myth-wukong/" data-original-link="https://www.playstation.com/en-us/games/black-myth-wukong/">PS5[/url].This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/black-myth-wukong-breaks-steams-concurrent-single-player-record-within-hours-of-launch-184559634.html?src=rss

Source: Black Myth: Wukong breaks Steam’s concurrent single-player record within hours of launch