Black Myth: Wukong Helped Break A New Steam Record
Unprecedented success for developer Game Science and its industry partners.
Black Myth: Wukong has had extraordinary success. Its launch earlier this month blew the previous concurrent user records out of the water, surpassing blockbusters like Elden Ring and PalWorld on Steam. The game also sold 10 million copies in just three days.
But Black Myth: Wukong isn’t reaching new heights on its own. Its success is pulling up other game companies like Sony and Valve alongside it.
More than 37 million people were logged into Steam on August 25, a record high that can be attributed to the swath of players jumping into Chinese developer Game Science’s first AAA game. The new record surpasses the previous all-time high of 33.7 million users logged in simultaneously back in January 2024. Of those more than 37 million Steam users online, about 12.5 million were actively playing a game, another record high according to SteamDB.
Black Myth: Wukong is based on Journey To The West, a 400-year-old Chinese novel widely considered one of the world’s most influential works of fiction.
While the industry doesn’t thrive solely by the number of concurrent Steam users, it is an interesting snapshot of gaming’s steady growth. These records aren’t always broken as the result of one popular game. The record broken earlier this year, for example, was likely the aftermath of a busy Fall season full of exceptional releases like Baldur’s Gate 3 and Starfield, and players finally getting a chance to play them after the holidays.
This time however, it's safe to say Black Myth: Wukong is playing a big role in Steam’s new player high. The game is still peaking at over 1.9 million players a day. These figures also don’t account for copies sold on competing platforms like the Epic Games Store.
A big part of the game’s success is its popularity in China. The game is based on Journey To The West, a 400-year-old Chinese novel considered one of the world’s most influential works of fiction. There are countless works that have told a variation of the original story, including anime like Dragon Ball and video games like the Ninja Theory cult-classic Enslaved.
The game has been a huge success for Sony and the PlayStation 5 in China.
Black Myth: Wukong, however, is a mostly faithful recreation of the original work. Combined with the fact that it riffs on one of the most popular genres in gaming today, the action-heavy Souls-like, you have the formula for success.
Valve’s digital storefront isn’t the only one benefitting from the world’s interest in Black Myth: Wukong. It’s also helped uplift sales of the PlayStation 5 in China, according to the South China Morning Post. Demand has been so high for Sony’s console, that some retailers are asking customers to wait up to a week for stocks to replenish.
“This is a big win for Sony,” one expert told the outlet. “PS5 offers the best option for those who want to try out Wukong, but cannot afford to buy a 40-series Nvidia display card.”
While it’s been a smash hit here in the U.S., Black Myth: Wukong is a sizable cultural event in China.
With more consoles sold and Black Myth: Wukong whetting the appetite for traditional single-player experiences, there's an opportunity for Sony to capitalize on this new player base.
In a short period of time, Black Myth: Wukong has become one of the most successful video games ever. Shortly after its reveal in 2020, game producer Feng Ji shared that he wanted Black Myth: Wukong to be the first in a series of Chinese legends and myths adapted into video games. Considering its first week sales, those ambitious are very likely.
