Black Myth: Wukong

Lore & Background

Black Myth: Wukong is inspired by the classical Chinese novel Journey to the West. The player controls the Destined One, a monkey protagonist based on Sun Wukong, whose weapon is a staff that can extend and shrink in size. The combat system involves resource management of focus, stamina, and mana, with spells divided into mysticism, alteration, strand, and transformations. The game follows a mostly linear progression with expansive areas, keeper's shrines as checkpoints, and flexible character customization via sparks that can be freely reallocated.

The story is structured into six chapters set in distinct locations: Black Wind Mountain, Yellow Wind Ridge, The New West, The Webbed Ridge, Flaming Mountains, and Mount Huaguo. The world contains gods from the Chinese pantheon and yaoguai beings. Each chapter concludes with an animated cutscene exploring narrative and thematic elements. The plot follows the Destined One's quest to recover Sun Wukong's six relics after the monkey king was sealed in stone by Erlang Shen and the Celestial Court.

The game features cultural and natural scenery derived from real-world locations such as the Kaiyuan Temple, Wulong Temple, and Dazu Rock Carvings. A New Game Plus mode and boss battle mode become available after completing a playthrough.

Reader's Guide

Black Myth: Wukong received generally favorable reviews from critics and won several accolades including Game of the Year awards. Its commercial success is notable, with 20 million units sold in its first month, establishing it as one of the fastest-selling games of all time. The game is the first installment in the Black Myth series, with the next installment, Black Myth: Zhong Kui, currently in development. The game's Soulslike elements, staff stances (smash, pillar, thrust), and transformation mechanics contribute to its distinctive combat system. The narrative draws heavily from Journey to the West while introducing original characters and plot developments. The game's difficulty cannot be manually adjusted and varies throughout a playthrough, with enemy boss encounters following a deliberate rhythm of rising and falling intensity across each chapter.

Did You Know?

• The game sold 20 million units in its first month, making it one of the fastest-selling games of all time.
• The protagonist's staff can extend and shrink in size during combat.
• Each chapter concludes with an animated cutscene that reflects on narrative and thematic elements.
• The next installment in the series, Black Myth: Zhong Kui, is currently in development.

A Historic First for Chinese-Developed Games

Black Myth: Wukong etched its name into the record books when it became the first Chinese-developed title to receive a Game of the Year nomination at The Game Awards. The nominees for the 2024 ceremony were revealed on November 18, 2024, under eligibility rules that required any game to have been released for public consumption on or before November 22 of that year. This single nomination carried enormous symbolic weight, as it marked the first time a studio based in China had reached the top tier of the industry's most visible annual showcase. The title stood alongside other groundbreaking firsts in that year's slate, including Balatro as the first solo-developed nominee and Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree as the first downloadable content entry to be considered. While the award ultimately went to Astro Bot, the very presence of Black Myth: Wukong on the shortlist signaled a shifting landscape in global game development, with a new region of the world now competing at the highest level of critical recognition.

The Ceremony That Carried Its Name

The Game Awards 2024, where Black Myth: Wukong's historic nomination was presented, was the eleventh iteration of the annual ceremony and marked its tenth anniversary. Hosted and produced by Canadian games journalist Geoff Keighley, the event took place on December 12, 2024, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles before a live audience. The broadcast was live streamed across more than thirty online platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, Steam, TikTok, Twitch, Twitter, and YouTube, with alternative streams offering American Sign Language and audio descriptions also available on YouTube. The show drew over 154 million streams, the highest viewership in its history. The evening featured musical performances from d4vd, Royal & the Serpent, Snoop Dogg, and Twenty One Pilots, alongside appearances by celebrity guests such as Harrison Ford, Hideo Kojima, and Aaron Paul. The stage itself was redesigned with more LED displays than previous years, an intentional choice by creative director LeRoy Bennett to evolve the show's visual identity each year.

A Packed and Unprecedented Shortlist

Black Myth: Wukong found itself in a particularly competitive and diverse field for the 2024 Game of the Year category. Astro Bot and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth each led the nominations with seven categories apiece, and the former ultimately swept four awards including the top honor. Balatro made history as the first solo-developed title to earn a Game of the Year nod, while Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree became the first downloadable content to be considered in the category. The voting process combined a jury panel drawn from over 130 media outlets worldwide, weighted at ninety percent, with public voting at ten percent, the latter conducted via the official website and Discord until December 11. Approximately 112 million public votes were cast overall, representing a twenty-five percent increase over the previous year. The Game Awards also partnered with Studio 568 and artists Nighttimes and Spiral House to build an in-game hub world in Fortnite, where players could vote for their favorite user-created islands, adding a new interactive dimension to the ceremony's proceedings.

A Broader Industry Celebration

The 2024 ceremony that showcased Black Myth: Wukong's nomination was part of a broader ecosystem of industry recognition and promotion. In the days preceding the main event, announcements were made during the Wholesome Games and Latin American Games Showcase on December 10, and the Day of the Devs and Women-Led Games Showcase on December 11. The main show itself focused almost exclusively on games rather than film and television, with a preview for Squid Game's second season airing only as a secondary element. New titles were unveiled, including Elden Ring Nightreign, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, and The Witcher IV. The inaugural Game Changer award honored Amir Satvat for his work helping industry workers find employment amid mass layoffs. The Future Class initiative, an annual list of fifty individuals representing the industry's future, chose not to induct new members in 2024, instead focusing on valuing its existing alumni. Together, these elements framed Black Myth: Wukong's nomination within a year of significant industry change and celebration.

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