Wukong 'increases video game IP in China

The video game “Black Myth: Wukong” is a cultural “Magic Weapon”, a soft power export that increases China's profile all over the world. It sold 10 million copies within just three days after the start last August – one of the fastest debut in Gaming history. It is called China's K-Pop moment.

“Black Myth: Wukong” is part of an exploding trend when film, television and gaming converge. The strategy of the independent Chinese studio game science brings things to a whole new level.

“Gaming is a very large business that is in a way greater than cinema and streaming” diversity.

“People only have so many hours of entertainment a day.

The global gaming industry experienced one reset after the Covid 19 pandemic because more people left their houses in 2023. Estimates for 2024 are around $ 180 billion, which is expected to reach around $ 212 billion by 2027.

Between 2023 and 2024, the proportion of cinema mass revenue from video game films increased by about a quarter. This year there is a game base in the pipeline that could massively increase sales.

Film companies in China are interested in this burgeoning market. Shingle Huayi Brothers, an former investor in Game Science, recorded almost 20%after the game “Black Myth” was published.

However, Patel expects film and TV studios to be aware of potential pitfalls.

“The recent history is littered with failed efforts by Studios to make their own video games.

Streamer should imagine these franchises as more than just a single film or a single series and curate these stories and characters in a way that gives them a life through a single offer or medium. The stories are important, but they also have to achieve a strong return on investment because it costs to produce them, said Patel.

“Content and storytelling also become global, especially when translation and synchronization with generative AI become stronger and more seamless.

Large cash strikes are also subject to other trends and increasingly seem to be driven by successful social campaigns and a certain degree of technical hype. This means that marketing budgets have also increased with production budgets.

Based on the classic Chinese text “Travel to West”, “Black Myth: Wukong” China's first 3A game, and it makes headlines for its high costs, quality and scale. The careful representation of Chinese mythology, history and architecture in combination with groundbreaking 4K-ray-story pictures has inspired the players worldwide. From January of this year it sold 25 million copies worldwide.

Liu Mengfei, an observer of the game industry, Beijing Normal University, said “Black Myth: Wukong” is a sign of growing maturity and better integration of resources in the industry.

“The development of an industry should take into account the completeness of its upstream and downstream chains, the regulatory framework and the support of talented producers,” Liu told Global Times.

Patel believes that it is probably much more difficult for film and TV franchise companies to expand into games than to generate films and television.

“In any case, it is important to build strong partnerships and to consider the Fandoms to take this franchise company closely,” he said.