Photo credit: Shutterstock
A myth-laced video game that brings China’s ancient legends to life is also driving consumer activity across the country, according to data from Alibaba Group’s e-commerce platforms.
Single-player video game "Black Myth: Wukong", which was released on Tuesday, has spurred a rise in video game-related purchases and renewed tourist interest in Chinese historical sites.
C2C e-commerce platform Taobao saw a 130% increase in overall video game sales on the day the game was released compared to the previous Tuesday, while searches for the title jumped nearly 14-fold.
Consumers also took to mobile shopping sites to order gaming consoles and book tickets to see the real-life locations portrayed in the game firsthand.
"Black Myth: Wukong" draws inspiration from the classic Chinese novel "Journey to the West", published in the 16th century and set during the Tang dynasty a thousand years earlier.
Game players take on the role of a monkey warrior as they retrieve lost treasures, battle foes from Chinese legends and travel across an ancient landscape dotted with historical temples and monuments.
A still from the video game "Black Myth: Wukong" shows the main character, who battles mythical foes with his wooden staff and searches for relics. Photo credit: Game Science
"The magnificent scenes and thrilling battles are full of Chinese elements and perfectly recreate "Journey to the West" in my mind," a Beijing-based gamer named Yuan told Alizila.
The 32-year-old is one of many gaming fans to be captivated by the vivid graphics and storytelling of the latest PC game from Hangzhou-based Game Science.
"Black Myth: Wukong" quickly rose to the top of rankings on digital distribution platform Steam, where it clocked more than two million people from across the globe playing concurrently within hours of launching.
The game’s meteoric rise mirrors broader growth within China’s gaming sector.
In the first quarter of 2024, 62% of PC gamers in the country said they spent more than they had over the same period last year, a survey by gaming industry consultancy Niko Partners shows.
This article was originally published on Alizila, written by Karen Zhang and Elizabeth Utley.
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