First "Palworld" shocked the world by breaking Steam records, and now "Black Myth: Wukong" has arrived to do it all over again.
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00:00It's not often that you see single-player games debut with eyeball-popping concurrent
00:05player counts on the first day, but 2024 has been an unusual year.
00:10First PowerWorld shocked the world by breaking Steam records, and now Black Myth Wukong has
00:15arrived to do it all over again.
00:17He's not just any monkey, he's a monkey of merit.
00:23The action-adventure title from Chinese developer GameScience launched today, and it's already
00:28surpassed an astounding 2.2 million concurrent players on Steam.
00:32Black Myth Wukong is officially the second most-played single-player game in Steam history.
00:38It already overtook the all-time high player counts for PowerWorld and Counter-Strike 2,
00:42but it still has quite a way to go before beating PUBG, which sits at 3.2 million.
00:47That's unbelievably impressive, especially considering that GameScience has only developed
00:52two other games in the past, and Black Myth is its first full-price AAA title.
00:57Clearly, GameScience has really knocked it out of the park.
01:00Black Myth isn't just skyrocketing to the top of the SteamDB charts on HyperLane.
01:04The game genuinely offers a fantastic action-RPG experience, and some of the best visuals you'll
01:09see this year.
01:10Reviewers have pointed out a few flaws here and there, but basically, everyone agrees
01:14that Black Myth Wukong is a definite winner.
01:17"...dark furred, devious natured, hunting that guise, no simple task."
01:24Black Myth Wukong tells a story based on Chinese mythology, taking particular inspiration
01:29from the novel Journey to the West.
01:31Players take on the role of the Destined One, who must traverse a magical land, collecting
01:35relics and fighting all kinds of monsters along the way.
01:39Like most other Souls-adjacent games, the mythology in Black Myth might come across
01:43as a little opaque, but it's really just an excuse to give players a stunning world to
01:47explore and visually engaging enemies and bosses to battle.
01:51Currently, Black Myth Wukong has over 70,000 reviews on Steam, along with an overwhelmingly
01:57positive review score.
01:58Players are praising almost every aspect of the game, with just about everyone mentioning
02:02its standout visuals.
02:04One Steam player wrote, quote,
02:05"...the production value in this game is off the charts."
02:09Another said, quote,
02:10"...best graphics I've ever played in a game with RTX 4090."
02:14The game is more than just pretty graphics, though, and players are giving it props for
02:17successfully combining elements of other popular action RPG titles.
02:22One player wrote,
02:23"...if you enjoyed God of War from 2018 and the Jedi Fallen Order series, then you will
02:27definitely enjoy this."
02:29Of course, there have been a few points of criticism, too, but the complaints are fairly
02:33standard for these types of games.
02:34Some players have had trouble following the story or coping with sudden difficulty spikes.
02:39Like most of the Soulsborne games before it, Black Myth Wukong throws players into the
02:43deep end and expects them to make sense of everything on their own.
02:48Professional reviews have largely been glowing as well, with Gaming Bolt giving it a perfect
02:51score and comparing it to beloved hits like Bloodborne and Sekiro.
02:55Meanwhile, God is a Geek called it, quote,
02:57"...one of this year's best action games," and praised the variety in its combat and
03:02gear systems.
03:03As mind-blowing as the Steam numbers for Black Myth Wukong are, they tell an incomplete story.
03:08The game didn't just release on Steam.
03:10It's also available through the Epic Store and on PlayStation 5, and players in China
03:14can get it via the Tencent-owned platform Wii Game.
03:17The player numbers from those platforms haven't been reported, but the 2.2 million Steam gamers
03:23are only a fraction of the game's full player base.
03:25"...though his body was broken, his spirit endures."
03:30What's even more shocking is that there's still another wave of players waiting in the
03:34wings.
03:35The game is set to be released on Xbox Series X and S as well, though the date for that
03:39release hasn't been set just yet.
03:41That just means that sometime in the near future, Black Myth Wukong will get another
03:45spike in new players.
03:47In other words, the delay could end up working to the game's advantage.
03:50GameScience has blown the gaming world away with this release, and there's still plenty
03:54of time for the developer's latest game to grow.