Black Myth: Wukong is already one of the fastest-selling games of all time, moving almost as many units in one week as Elden Ring and Cyberpunk did in their first months
Cool, what are the numbers without China? Chinese gamers are so numerous that they will 100% shift the sales data of a game from failure to success just by themselves, and this game was 100% intended for that demographic.
China has a larger gaming population than many countries have citizens. It's one of the reasons a bunch of western devs are trying to cater to that market more, and kowtowing to Chinese government to include their propaganda or exclude reality in the process. The games Chinese gamers choose to really get behind are rarely the same as the rest of the world. So when trying to compare sales numbers, it's like having a gorilla sitting on the scale.
Technically yeah it's selling a ton of copies, no one is arguing otherwise, but you also can't really compare sales directly to other western games without removing those sales figures because they're an outlier.
So you're saying it's so tailored to the Chinese market that it becomes biased because the Chinese marked is biased (mostly) do to censorship of other games?
Yeah I can see that tipping the scale in their favor (if that's what you meant)
Taking into account censorship laws and the cultural significance of the game, I'd say China is likely causing this game to tremendously outperform vs expected metrics. So here's what I'd like to know:
Total cost of the game in China against other common costs. Is it affordable?
Has China raised the limitations on time played per day for this game? (that I believe exists)
Did the Chinese government help fund ways for this game to reach a wider population? Possibly through a deal to maintain the game's strong cultural identity?
Is it actually a good game?
Answer: Yes, though different in execution than people expected. The reviewers I trust give it a Buy Now IF your system can handle it. Sounds like it's, excuse me, a beast to run.
4 is easy enough to answer. Off to see some reviews!