Black Myth: Wukong’s first week of sales numbers are in, and they firmly inhabit “Don’t take a big sip of coffee before you look at them” territory. 10 million units sold, which, as industry analyst Daniel Ahmad pointed out on X, “The Everything App,” is a record-breaking performance that leaves some of the biggest releases of the past few years in the dust.

For perspective, here are some comparative numbers:

  • Hogwarts Legacy: 15 million in three months
  • Elden Ring: 13 million in one month
  • Cyberpunk 2077: 13.7 million in one month
  • Baldur’s Gate 3: 20+ million in five months
  • Helldivers 2: 12 million in three months

The only game that comes close is Palworld’s 19 million players in two weeks, a mark that Black Myth: Wukong seems on track to surpass. It’s a sales figure that lines up with Wukong having leapfrogged the competition to be the #2 most-played game in Steam’s history by concurrent players. Before that, it was also the most wishlisted game on the platform after The Day Before met its ignominious end.

  • Thallo [love/loves]@hexbear.net
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    3 months ago

    Where are the sales coming from? I would guess the majority are coming from within China?

    I guess I’m just surprised that a Wukong game would be such a hit with westerners, especially in the very saturated soulslike genre. I also haven’t seen anyone say anything about the game other than “it’s a soulslike”, so I’m wondering what’s resonating

    • Roonerino [they/them]@hexbear.net
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      3 months ago

      Honestly I think it’s just the visuals resonating here in the US. It’s a really beautiful game to look at, and the Chinese art and architecture and landscapes aren’t something you see very much in western games.

    • AstroStelar [he/him]@hexbear.net
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      3 months ago

      The primary driver of Wukong’s sales success is its popularity in China, where developer Game Science is based. Games industry analyst firm Niko has an in-depth article by Daniel Ahmad breaking this down. 93% of Wukong’s Steam reviews are in simplified Chinese, and Steam shattered its previous download bandwidth record (set during Cyberpunk’s launch) by a whopping 28 terabytes per second on Wukong’s August 20 launch⁠—82% of that traffic originated in East Asia. Gameplay videos and previews of Wukong have also been dominating Chinese social networks like bilibili.