As I write this, Chinese studio Game Science’s action-adventure game Black Myth: Wukong is the most played game on Steam. The current number of game players is 1,400,932 (the peak was 1,443,570), exceeding all common games such as “Counter-Strike 2”, “Dota 2”, and “PUBG” that occupy the top five on Steam.
Wukong’s launch was already predicted to be strong, with the game being the number one seller on Steam for weeks, but for a single-player offline game, the number of simultaneous players online is pretty staggering.
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Although the number of simultaneous players continues to increase, even so, this makes Black Myth: Wukong the fourth most popular game in Steam history, just surpassing Lost Ark and Dota earlier in the day. 2》. Its next target is Counter-Strike 2, for which it needs about 400,000 players.
However, it would be very interesting if it could approach or even surpass Palworld (which peaked at 2,101,867 at its most popular). This also makes Wukong the third most popular paid game on Steam, behind PUBG and Palworld. Of course, “PUBG” reached an astonishing peak of 3,257,248 simultaneous online users when it became a paid game, and that was long before it was a free game.
It’s also worth remembering that these numbers only reflect Steam; Wukong is also playable on WeGame in China. Even away from PC, we don’t know how many copies the PS5 version managed to sell. The game’s popularity is also reflected in the game’s Steam user review rating, based on over 28,000 reviews, despite the game using the often-annoying Denuvo DRM.
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While these numbers are impressive, the source of much of this interest may not be surprising. According to GameDiscover estimates, 88% of Wukong’s sales come from China, with the second largest contributor being the United States, accounting for a much smaller 3%.
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However, the launch of Black Myth: Wukong was not without controversy. Just yesterday, the game’s co-publishers sent a document on the dos and don’ts to streamers and influencers, which was made public, Eurogamer reports.
The authenticity of the marketing document, which has been confirmed by multiple people, explicitly asks those participating in the event not to include “trigger words such as ‘quarantine,’ ‘quarantine,’ or ‘Covid-19’ in the report.” Participants are also asked not to talk about ” politics,” “fetishism,” or “feminist propaganda.”
The last one is of particular interest because Game Science, the studio behind Goku, has faced long-standing accusations of sexism and mistreatment of women. It’s likely that the people behind Wukong Marketing don’t want influencers mentioning this stuff.
If you’re one of the millions of players just starting out on Journey to the West, click on these Wukong tips and tricks to help you get started, and check out our guides regularly. We’ve recently published guides to help you find the Stone and Tiger Kongs, including one on where to find Buddha’s Eyes and where to use them.
