China approves 128 titles in October, including hit Korean game Goddess of Victory: Nikke

China approves 128 titles in October, including hit Korean game Goddess of Victory: Nikke

China has given the nod to 128 Chinese and foreign video games for domestic release in October, a batch that includes the highly anticipated Goddess of Victory: Nikke, backed by Tencent Holdings, as excitement in the country’s gaming industry continues following the release of Black Myth: Wukong. The National Press and Publication Administration, the agency … Read more

Black Myth: Wukong is a good omen for some, but small Chinese game developers see obstacles

Black Myth: Wukong is a good omen for some, but small Chinese game developers see obstacles

The response has been so enthusiastic that it has raised the hopes of China’s video gaming industry about the prospects of pulling off another big-budget blockbuster game that takes years to produce – the typical features of titles that get the unofficial AAA designation. But the excitement belies the numerous challenges that remain for the … Read more

China approves 117 video games in August, the most in 2024, amid Black Myth: Wukong mania

China approves 117 video games in August, the most in 2024, amid Black Myth: Wukong mania

The NPPA has licensed a total of 850 domestic titles in the first eight months of this year, compared with 609 in the same period in 2023. A screenshot from Tencent Holdings’ action game Yirenzhixia. Photo: qq.com The large number of titles approved in August reflects the significant recovery in China’s video gaming market since … Read more

Black Myth: Wukong’s popularity brings unexpected windfall, fame to low-profile developer

Black Myth: Wukong’s popularity brings unexpected windfall, fame to low-profile developer

Feng’s obsession with Wukong, the Monkey King character from the 16th-century Chinese novel Journey to the West, started as early as his stint at Tencent, the world’s largest video gaming company by revenue. There he was a core member of the development team on a project called Asura, a massively multiplayer online role-playing game based … Read more

Black Myth: Wukong is increasing China’s appetite for AAA games, but next one could take years

Black Myth: Wukong is increasing China’s appetite for AAA games, but next one could take years

The immense popularity of China’s first AAA title – an unofficial designation for games with large budgets and long development times – now has other developers in the country thinking more ambitiously. 01:54 China’s first home-grown AAA game breaks records after debut China’s first home-grown AAA game breaks records after debut “The emergence of Black … Read more

No ‘feminist propaganda’? Censorship row hits Chinese game Black Myth: Wukong

No ‘feminist propaganda’? Censorship row hits Chinese game Black Myth: Wukong

But in the run up to the game’s release, video streamers reported receiving a document from co-publishers Hero Games warning them to avoid topics including “feminist propaganda” or “politics” when they received a passkey to play the game, an email exchange showed. Gamers were also warned against any reference to “Covid-19”, “isolation” or “quarantine” – … Read more

China’s Black Myth: Wukong mania lifts sales of Sony’s PS5 console, other gaming hardware

China’s Black Myth: Wukong mania lifts sales of Sony’s PS5 console, other gaming hardware

He added that his bricks-and-mortar store on Tuesday received more than dozen inquiries about the PS5’s availability. Sony’s flagship store in Shanghai’s upscale Huangpu district on Tuesday saw its stock of six freshly delivered PS5 consoles quickly snapped up, as a stream of shoppers helped lift total sales that day above normal levels, according to … Read more

China’s AAA game Black Myth: Wukong tops Cyberpunk 2077, Elden Ring for most Steam players

China’s AAA game Black Myth: Wukong tops Cyberpunk 2077, Elden Ring for most Steam players

Black Myth: Wukong, China’s first AAA video game, has broken the record to become the most-played title of its kind on its first day of release on the digital games store Steam, marking a major milestone for the Chinese developers. The action role-playing game, developed by the Tencent Holdings-backed studio Game Science and inspired by … Read more

Chinese triple-A video game Black Myth: Wukong proves a big hit with initial pre-orders 16 times oversubscribed

Chinese triple-A video game Black Myth: Wukong proves a big hit with initial pre-orders 16 times oversubscribed

China’s first triple-A video game, Black Myth: Wukong, has emerged as a big hit more than two months before its official release, as initial domestic pre-orders were about 16 times oversubscribed as of Tuesday. An action role-playing game based on the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West published in the 16th century, Black Myth: … Read more

Tencent’s DnF Mobile rises as new runaway hit for video gaming giant, surpassing Honour of Kings’ daily revenue on debut

Tencent’s DnF Mobile rises as new runaway hit for video gaming giant, surpassing Honour of Kings’ daily revenue on debut

The mobile version of Dungeon & Fighter Online, the personal computer (PC) game developed by Nexon subsidiary Neople, on May 22 outstripped the daily revenue of those two high-performing Tencent games on the China App Store in just the second day of its domestic release, according to data from Chinese app analytics platform Qimai. DnF … Read more