2 days ago
Creators of hit video game Black Myth: Wukong announce sequel featuring legendary ghost slayer Zhong Kui
BEIJING: The creators of Black Myth: Wukong, the action role-playing video game that took the gaming world by storm and stamped China's mark on global game development, have announced a new entry in the series that has once again sparked excitement among fans.
Chinese studio Game Science introduced Black Myth: Zhong Kui at the Gamescom conference in Cologne, Germany on Tuesday (Aug 19).
A near-two-minute teaser trailer featured the titular character Zhong Kui, a deity in Chinese mythology traditionally regarded as a vanquisher of ghosts and evil beings. He is often portrayed as a towering figure with a big black beard, bulging eyes and a wrathful expression.
Beyond confirming that the game is in early development and will similarly be steeped in Chinese mythology like Black Myth: Wukong, Tencent-backed Game Science has yet to release any gameplay footage or even a rough release date.
The studio said on its website that it is the company's 'tradition' to report its progress to players every Aug 20, and that 'this year is no exception'. While the announcement took place on the evening of Aug 19 in Cologne, it was already Aug 20 in China, aligning with the studio's chosen date.
Game Science has traditionally released new content or teasers for the Black Myth series on Aug 20 each year. In 2020, it unveiled a 13-minute gameplay trailer for Black Myth: Wukong, followed by additional gameplay footage and an in-game cutscene in subsequent years. The game was officially released on Aug 20, 2024.
However, the game is 'little more than an empty folder at this stage', said Game Science, adding that it was 'not even done with the outline yet'.
'There's hardly any game footage we could share. To keep all hands focused on development, we decided to deliver a CG (computer graphics) short to let everyone know that a new project has kicked off,' the studio wrote in an FAQ section on its website.
Black Myth: Zhong Kui will be released on PC and all 'mainstream' console platforms, Game Science said.
SPIRITS STIRRED, FANS THRILLED
Game Science uploaded the teaser to its official social media platforms, including Chinese microblogging site Weibo, where it quickly drew an enthusiastic response.
The hashtag 'Black Myth' surged to the top of Weibo's hot search list, racking up nearly 18 million concurrent views as fans expressed excitement over the upcoming sequel.
A popular Chinese gaming blogger, Zhang Jia, who has more than 1 million followers on Weibo, shared clips of non-Chinese gamers reacting to the announcement of Black Myth: Zhong Kui.
"The hype … is real, the foreigners are going crazy when they showed Black Myth: Zhong Kui on the big screen,' he wrote.
But Zhang believes Zhong Kui's mythology may be "more difficult" for non-Chinese players to digest compared to Journey to the West, the classic Chinese epic that inspired Black Myth: Wukong and is more widely known internationally.
Black Myth: Wukong follows the Journey to the West character known as the Monkey King or Sun Wukong, as he embarks on a quest to reclaim six magical relics.
Game Science has said it's still 'exploring and experimenting' with the 'concrete differences' between Wukong and Zhong Kui.
'So take it easy, let us impress ourselves first before we serve it to you,' it wrote on its website.
Even as anticipation builds, it remains to be seen whether Black Myth: Zhong Kui can replicate the success reaped by its predecessor.
Black Myth: Wukong saw more than 4 million people add the title to their wishlists on Steam before its launch, making it the most 'wishlisted' game on the digital platform in early 2024.
Physical editions were also sold out within seconds on Chinese e-commerce platform
The game reached more than 2.2 million peak concurrent users (PCCU) on Steam within its first 24 hours, making it the most popular single-player game by that metric in the platform's history, according to video game research firm Niko Partners.
It ranks second among all types of games by PCCU, coming in just behind battle royale game PUBG which peaked at 3.2 million.
