[Weekly King CTWANT] The biggest news in the gaming industry today (August 20, 2024) is that the 3A game “Black Myth: Wukong” created by the Chinese game manufacturer “Game Science” for many years is officially launched. As early as the end of June, “Game Science” had stated that it confirmed that it would not launch a traditional Chinese version of the PS5 physical disc for Taiwan, nor would it be put on the Taiwan Playstation Store (PSN), making Taiwan players want to play it. This game can only be purchased on Steam or through the Hong Kong PSN. Industry insiders pointed out that the reason why “Black Myth: Wukong” was not released on Taiwan’s PSN was mainly because the development team did not know that “Chinese games require security review before being released on Taiwan’s PSN” and the time process was too late.

“CTWANT” exclusively interviewed Mr. Y, a veteran in the home game console industry. When faced with the fact that “Black Myth: Wukong” is not available on Taiwan’s PSN, Mr. Y explained that the main reason is that Chinese games are stuck. If he wants to be on Taiwan’s PSN, he must receive funding. Security review, and this review process takes time.

Mr. Y said that in fact, as early as a few months ago, some colleagues in the industry suggested to Game Science to postpone the launch, because this would have time to make a physical version of PS5 and launch it on PSN. However, this request was rejected by Game Science. Mr. Y speculated that Game Science wanted to grab the last slot for the summer vacation. If it continued to be postponed, he was worried about the impact on game sales. In addition, the sales of “Black Myth: Wukong” on Steam in China are too amazing, so Game Science does not plan to delay the entire launch plan for the PS5 version.

Mr. Y explained that for games that generally require physical versions of PS5 discs, game manufacturers (or publishers) must purchase special Blu-ray discs from Sony, and subsequently purchase packaging boxes, cover design and printing, production and packaging, and delivery of all packages. Processes such as getting the goods to agents around the world, and agents distributing goods to various stores. It will take at least 3 months for experienced publishers to go through these processes. Not to mention that Game Science is just a company that is new to physical game distribution, so it is estimated that it may take even longer.

In addition, as far as Mr. Y knows, Game Science puts almost all manpower and resources on processing the Steam version of the game, and there are not many resources to take into account the production of the PS5 physical version. This is why “Black Myth: Wukong” has not been released. Traditional Chinese PS5 disc version of the game, because there is no physical disc version released in the world.

Mr. Y also explained that in fact, Game Science’s move will also affect sales. If it is launched simultaneously, Mr. Y estimates that the PS5 physical version of “Black Myth: Wukong” will have at least one million sales worldwide, but if it is PC If the PS5 physical version is released first and the PS5 physical version is pushed later, the final sales volume of the PS5 version may be less than 20%.

Mr. Y also said that Game Science is actually a passionate and ideal team. However, if you are engaged in game development and game publishing at the same time, it is inevitable that there will be omissions in complex practical aspects, such as this time because we did not know how to put it on PSN. Need to undergo information security review, resulting in a situation where it is too late to submit for review.

Mr. Y mentioned that in fact, the Chinese game development team is very familiar with the review process. Including the well-known Chinese mobile game “Genshin Impact” is currently officially released on PSN. The review unit here in Taiwan has actually not blocked the “photography” of games developed in China. Just submit the process for review, because the review is not to review the game content, but to review whether there are any strange cash flows or packets being sent back to China."

According to data from the Digital Entertainment Software Rating Inquiry Network, for Chinese games, in order to ensure the integrity of their database flow and security test reports, starting from April 1, 2022, game companies or game agents must submit to a third-party notary unit For the server flow report of the test, the laboratory that produces and submits the report must be a Taiwanese testing laboratory with TAF certification, and must meet the qualifications of the “Intelligent Networked Service System Information Security Testing Laboratory Certification Service Plan” project.

As for how long the actual review will take, Mr. Y said, “It takes about one week for urgent information security laboratory certification, and about two weeks for the Computer Association to review contract documents.” Coupled with other administrative processes, it will take at least a month.

There are currently rumors in the game industry that the Taiwanese government is blocking the launch of “Black Myth: Wukong”, but Mr. Y also said, “Many Chinese games have been successfully launched in Taiwan before. As long as you follow the process, there will be no problem. Genshin Impact” , Collapse of Iron, and Dead Zone are all fine. It’s just that “Black Myth: Wukong” didn’t have enough time to complete the security review before its official release, so I just gave up.”