The Sony Playstation 5 may be approaching the second half of its generational cycle, but the recent release of hit title Black Myth: Wukong appears to have revitalised sales in the typically muted Chinese market.
Developed by Hangzhou-based studio Game Science and based on the legendary Chinese novel Journey to the West, Black Myth: Wukong finally launched on the PS5 and PC this week following years of fervent hype.
According to a Bloomberg report, the launch coincided with a 100% year-on-year increase in Chinese PS5 sales on e-commerce site Alibaba as gamers flocked to get a piece of the monkey-themed action.
Sony Playstation has struggled to penetrate the Chinese gaming market.
As of 30 April, 2024, Sony has sold more than 56 million PS5 units globally. Sony has not updated on China-specific sales since May 2022, when it clocked a total of just 670,000 PS5 unit sales since launch.
The installed base is likely to be larger, however, given the prevalence of imports in the Chinese market.
Nonetheless, the launch of Black Myth: Wukong, a single-player title in which gamers assume the role of the titular simian protagonist, has clearly struck a chord.
The title is seen as one of the first AAA gaming titles to emerge from China and has instantly garnered an impressive global player base.
It topped Steam's most-played games chart with 1.4 million players immediately following its release.
It currently has an 81% average critic rating and 84% average user rating on review aggregator Metacritic.
Game Science is back by Tencent.