Chinese game Black Myth: Wukong sells 10 million in 3 days

Black Myth: Wukong, a new game created by a Chinese gaming firm, has sold a whopping 10 million copies, but not without controversy.

Hit Chinese video game “Black Myth: Wukong” has become one of the country’s most successful productions, selling 10 million copies worldwide since launching earlier this week.

The game’s X account posted on Friday that it had sold 10 million copies “across all platforms” as of Friday at 9.00pm Beijing time (1300 GMT).

The action game was released globally on Tuesday and enjoyed one of the best opening days, as measured by the number of players on gaming platform Steam, and sold nearly 1.2 million pre-release copies.

Black Myth: Wukong is one of the most popular games in the world right now. Picture: Supplied

A young man plays Chinese action role-playing game Black Myth: Wukong, developed by Chinese video game company Game Science, during its launch day in Shanghai on August 20, 2024. Picture: AFP

The figures rival those of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, which sold more than 10 million copies worldwide in three days following its launch in May 2023.

Considered the first Chinese-developed “Triple A” title, a term used to describe major, high-budget, stand-alone productions, the game is inspired by the classic 16th-century Chinese novel Journey to the West.

The book also inspired the 1978 TV show Monkey (sometimes called Monkey Magic), which became a cult classic in Australia.

In the new game, players step into the shoes of a character similar to the Monkey King Sun Wukong, a key figure in the story.

Some gamers have complained that co-publisher Hero Games sent guidelines to foreign streamers urging them against discussing politically touchy topics like Covid-19 or feminism.

Players were also warned against any reference to “Covid-19”, “isolation” or “quarantine”, an email exchange seen by AFP showed — likely a reference to China’s pandemic-era policies that placed millions under arbitrary lockdowns and sparked civil unrest.