Black Myth: Wukong launch-week sales second only to Grand Theft Auto 5

Black Myth: Wukong’s makers said Friday they sold a whopping 10 million units within the first three days of the highly anticipated action-adventure game’s release. That figure, for a three-day span, is second only to the 2013 launch of Grand Theft Auto 5, which sold 16.5 million.

Like GTA 5’s initial launch, Black Myth: Wukong is available on just two platforms — PlayStation 5 and Windows PC. Developer Game Science added that Black Myth: Wukong has also seen a peak of 3 million concurrent players spanning both platforms, in the same week in which it hit a peak concurrent count of 2.4 million on Steam to become that platform’s second-most played game ever.

Black Myth: Wukong has sold 10 million copies across all platforms.
(Data as of 21:00 Beijing time, August 23, 2024)

Thanks to all players worldwide for your support and love.
Have a great gaming weekend!#BlackMythWukong pic.twitter.com/mp3mk9JxrX

— Black Myth: Wukong (@BlackMythGame) August 23, 2024

Besides the pre-release hype in western markets, Black Myth: Wukong also taps an enormous Chinese market by virtue of being an adaptation of the 530-year-old Chinese classic Journey to the West, as well as its development by Shenzhen-based Game Science.

Black Myth: Wukong a national phenomenon for China

Earlier in the week there were even anecdotal reports of a Chinese employer — likely also a games developer, but unconfirmed — giving workers the day off to play Black Myth: Wukong if they had pre-ordered it. Whatever the truth there, it’s safe to say the game resonates as a cultural point of pride in the nation where it was developed.

Daniel Camilo, a Shenzhen-based video games analyst and consultant, said on Tuesday that retailers in that city’s electronics market had sold out of PlayStation 5 consoles, with Black Myth: Wukong identified as the cause.

“We’re witnessing a ‘contagious wave’ of consumers who don’t usually care about gaming suddenly being overwhelmed with all the exposure the game is having in China, and buying new consoles,'” he said Tuesday on X.

Metacritic’s score aggregation has Black Myth: Wukong at an 81 from critics, practically matching the “generally favorable” 8.2 rating that users have given the adventure, too.

Black Myth: Wukong launched Aug. 20 on PC and PlayStation; an Xbox Series X version is expected, though a launch date has not been announced.

Featured image via Steam

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