Summary
Black Myth: Wukonghas fueled a massive spike in Chinese Steam traffic, which amounted to roughly 1.5 exabytes during its release week. This astonishing figure serves as yet another piece of evidence illustratingBlack Myth: Wukong’s incredible success.
Developed and published by China-based studio Game Science,Black Myth: Wukongwas releasedfor the PlayStation 5 and PC on Tuesday, August 20. The action RPG took no time to establish itself as a massive hit, especially in its home country.
China Tops Steam Traffic Chart Following Black Myth: Wukong’s Release
One data point indicative of its incredible success is the amount of traffic that China-based Steam users have generated since the game became available to play. According toSteam’s global traffic map, Chinese gamers downloaded approximately 1.5 exabytes of data over the seven-day window ending August 25. That’s the equivalent of 1.5 billion gigabytes, which accounted for more than 55% of all of Steam’s global traffic during the observed period. For reference, China is already one of the platform’s largest markets, as it is normally responsible for roughly one-third of its global download activity. But sinceBlack Myth: Wukonghit the market, the Steam traffic originating from the Far Eastern country has jumped by roughly 50%.
This upward trend is consistent with what Game Science itself recently said about the commercial success of its latest title. Specifically, the Chinese studio revealed thatBlack Myth: Wukongsurpassed 10 million salesjust three days following its debut. While the developer did not provide a breakdown of this figure by platform, estimates from VG Insights and Gamalytic suggest that Steam alone is responsible for at least half of the game’s lifetime sales as of this writing. The PC version ofBlack Myth: Wukongis also available on the Epic Games Store.
The ARPG has already become the most popular single-player game in Steam’s history based on simultaneous player counts, having peaked at 2.415 million concurrent players two days following its release. This record was previously held by CDPR’sCyberpunk 2077, which had 1.054 million players shortly after its December 2020 debut. Another indicator testifying to its success is thatBlack Myth: Wukongis currently the most streamed 2024 game on Twitch.
The RPG’s critical reception has so far matched its early commercial success, as reflected in its “Strong” OpenCritic rating, which is derived from an aggregate score of 81 and a 73% reviewer recommendation rate. Its total sales are likely to be further bolstered by the Xbox Series X/S version ofBlack Myth: Wukong, which has already been officially confirmed but is still lacking a release date.
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 can also freely combine different spells, abilities, weapons, and equipment to find the winning strategy that best suits your combat style.
