Chinese Video/Computer Games

Here's the all time peak number of user top list for reference:


Wukong is about to beat Cyberpunk. This is middle of the day for people too, in a 24 hour cycle and on weekend it's going to have some pretty crazy peak numbers.

These are absolutely crazy numbers for Monday/Tuesday, a lot of people calling in sick today it seems.

So my Australian uncle decided this was the best time to take his family for a tour of Beijing and my dad volunteered my place for them to stay. So now I'm back with my parents away from my gaming rig. Being a single man with a big apartment never sucked so bad.

proelite said:

Sweet Baby Fans seething.

Click to expand...

I don’t think those exist.

Let’s play already available.

Given that a lot of the places in Black Myth Wukong exist in modern China today, I expect we can see a rise in foreign tourists in the months and years to come.

Chevalier said:

Given that a lot of the places in Black Myth Wukong exist in modern China today, I expect we can see a rise in foreign tourists in the months and years to come.

Click to expand...

Shanxi provincial government is already on that:

The video features scenes from the game's CG trailer shown at the Summer Game Fest, highlighting local cultural landmarks such as Little Western Paradise, Yuhuang Temple, and Iron Buddha Temple.

Many players have been calling for Shanxi's tourism department to launch cultural tourism activities related to Black Myth, including specialized travel routes, detailed guides, gameplay strategies, completion certificates, and merchandise.

"We have been inundated with requests from all directions - some seeking customized travel routes, others looking for detailed guides," said the Shanxi Department of Culture and Tourism. "Rest assured, we have carefully noted every expectation."

Previously, the department released a promotional video featuring Shanxi's ancient architecture, showcasing the comparison between in-game scenes from Black Myth and real-world sites such as ancient temples and pagodas. The video highlights Shanxi's rich cultural heritage.

Click to expand...

I think they forked over some money in support of the development of the game too. Much better investment for soft power than anything else attempted so far.

I had a feeling this game would be really good when they got approval to use the Opening and Ending theme music from 1986 version of Journey to the West. That show is considered one of the all time greatest treasure from CCTV and they won't give out those rights to just anybody.

1.3 million...
legit insane active user numbers for Black Myth.

bonus points for really good optimisation for lower and higher end pcs

Blitzo said:

To be honest, the graphics of this game was never what made me pay attention to it.

For me, it always ranked as :
1. Combat
2. Art direction
a distant 3: Graphical fidelity

A couple of my all timers are Sekiro and Bloodborne, neither of which had immense graphical fidelity for their era, but their combat remains unmatched to this day and with coherent and fairly inspired art direction, so Black Myth ticks those right boxes for me.
The graphical fidelity is just a bonus on top, and frankly it seems even without the top end graphical settings, it still looks very impressive.

Click to expand...

Use of advanced graphical technologies, high-end assets, etc. are only part of makes for a compelling visual presentation, it's the art design that typically does the heavy lifting in that regard. And of course the visual presentation is only the lesser part of what makes for a compelling game. Immortals of Aveum is a recent example of a game using high-end graphical technologies that nonetheless does not look particularly attractive, while there are any number of games that have tremendous visual appeal despite lacking advanced graphical technologies, driven by strong art design. I recently started a replay of Dishonored which even in 2012 was never a graphical tour de force, but the art design and worldbuilding still shine through as strongly as ever.

Technology is only a small part of the story, but it is nonetheless part of the story. I'm not even much of a gamer these days (though I am looking forward to Astro Bot on PS5 next month), but I do enjoy looking at the technology of games and appreciate those that push the boundaries, which is why I've been following Digital Foundry for longer than I can remember. Gameplay is king, but a strong visual presentation attracts eyeballs and start conversations. For me it is the visual and thematic (i.e. Journey to the West) presentation of Black Myth: Wukong that has piqued my interest, with the technologies employed being part of the former aspect. Thinking back, Cyberpunk 2077 was similar: that game's visual and thematic presentation won me over despite my having little interest in some key aspects of its design (i.e. all the fiddly RPG bits). For the many others like yourself who are more naturally inclined to these kinds of Souls-like and Souls-adjacent games in the first place, the mix of pull factors may very reasonably be different. In any case I don't have a high-end gaming PC and so will be hoping for a strong showing on PS5.

1.3 Million active players as of right now.

imagine if they had released this during the weekend...