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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 and travel 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.
“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.
Playstations, Please
At the moment, “Black Myth: Wukong” players can access the game via their computers or by using a PS5 gaming console, which saw a surge in orders on B2C platform Tmall.
In the seven days before the game’s release, PS5 sales doubled year-on-year on the Playstation Tmall flagship store, and the console held pole position in Tmall’s video game equipment rankings for four consecutive days.
Buoyed by the upswell in interest for all things gaming-related, Tmall’s home game consoles category reported an 80% year-on-year increase in sales.
The PS5 is also in high demand on second-hand trading platform Xianyu, where searches for the consoles have increased by 300% in August so far.
Journey to Shanxi
The success of “Black Myth: Wukong” is shining a spotlight on Shanxi province, which lent its ancient temples, carved grottoes and rocky mountains to the game’s imagery.
On the launch day of the game, searches for Shanxi locations and accommodations doubled month-on-month on Alibaba’s online travel platform Fliggy.
“After learning that the scenes in the game actually exist in China, I am extremely eager to have the opportunity to go and see them in person,” Yuan noted.
Beijing netizens like Yuan, as well as residents of Shanghai, Zhejiang and Henan, are driving searches for Shanxi destinations on Fliggy, according to the platform.
To be sure, the province’s tourism sector was having a banner season even before the release of “Black Myth: Wukong”. Shanxi tourist bookings, from ticket orders to car rentals, are up by around 70% year-on-year so far this summer, Fliggy data shows.
The northern Chinese province is home to three UNESCO World Heritage Sites and the only remaining structures from the Tang dynasty.
Additional reporting by Ivy Yu
