Black Myth: Wukong has sold an incredible 10 million copies in just three days, developer Game Science has announced.
The action RPG, which is inspired by the classical Chinese novel Journey to the West, went on sale on August 20 across PC and PlayStation 5. Now, as of 9pm Beijing time on August 23, Game Science has announced Black Myth: Wukong has already shot through the 10 million sales barrier, with an eye-watering three million concurrent players across all platforms.
“Thanks to all players worldwide for your support and love,” Game Science tweeted. “Have a great gaming weekend!”
To put Black Myth: Wukong’s sales success into context, Arrowhead’s Helldivers 2 sold 12 million copies in its first 12 weeks to become the fastest-selling PlayStation Studios game of all time. Indeed, Black Myth: Wukong is one of the fastest-selling video games of all time, overtaking the likes of Elden Ring and Hogwarts Legacy within the same timeframe. It’s sold so well, it has matched Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, which combined sold 10 million copies in three days to become Nintendo’s fastest-selling game of all time.
On Steam, Black Myth: Wukong broke a number of concurrent player count records. It’s the most-played single-player game of all-time on Valve’s platform, ahead of CD Projekt’s Cyberpunk 2077, and the second most-played game of any kind on Steam, now behind only battle royale PUBG. Black Myth: Wukong remains the top-selling game on Steam, and player numbers are expected to grow even further as we head into the game’s first weekend. (Sony does not make PlayStation player numbers publicly available.)
Black Myth: Wukong is clearly a huge hit globally, but it is particularly popular in China, where it has broken through into the mainstream. Based on Steam concurrents, the majority of the game’s players are in China, but there is still a huge audience for Black Myth: Wukong in the west.
In a blog post, Daniel Ahmad, Director of Research and Insights at Niko Partners, said Black Myth: Wukong’s sales success “represents the growing capabilities and ambitions of Chinese game development studios and their ability to compete on the global stage.”
Given Game Science has said Black Myth: Wukong has hit three million concurrent players across all platforms, we can deduce the Steam / PS5 split. Black Myth: Wukong’s Steam concurrent peak so far is 2,415,714, which means its PS5 concurrent peak is around 600,000.
Ahmad tweeted to say Steam “is the leading platform by far due to the large skew towards Chinese players (who primarily play on PC).”
An Xbox Series X and S version was set to launch alongside the other versions, but it was delayed without a new release date. At the time, Game Science pointed to optimization on the Xbox as the reason for the delay.
“We are currently optimizing the Xbox Series X|S version to meet our quality standards, so it won’t release simultaneously with the other platforms,” the developer said. “We apologize for the delay and aim to minimize the wait for Xbox users. We will announce the release date as soon as it meets our quality standards.”
Microsoft released a statement of its own – one it’s still pointing to now – that hints at some sort of deal between Game Science and Sony.
“We’re excited for the launch of Black Myth Wukong on Xbox Series X|S and are working with Game Science to bring the game to our platforms,” a Microsoft spokesperson said in a statement sent to IGN.
“We can’t comment on the deals made by our partners with other platform holders, but we remain focused on making Xbox the best platform for gamers, and great games are at the center of that.”
IGN has reported on a super cool Black Myth: Wukong secret that lets you summon one boss to beat another boss while you basically do nothing, and on how one optional boss encountered very early in the game is absolutely destroying players. While you’re here, IGN has plenty more Black Myth: Wukong guides to help you out, including Essential Tips and Tricks, Things Black Myth: Wukong Doesn’t Tell You, and our Boss List and Guides.
Meanwhile, developer Game Science has apologized for any tech or performance issues players have encountered since Black Myth: Wukong’s record-breaking launch earlier this week, and promised patches are coming.
IGN’s Black Myth: Wukong review returned an 8/10. We said: “Despite some frustrating technical issues, Black Myth: Wukong is a great action game with fantastic combat, exciting bosses, tantalizing secrets, and a beautiful world.”
Also this week, IGN verified an email sent from the Black Myth: Wukong marketing team that told content creators who were granted a Steam key that they must not include “feminist propaganda” or use what are called “trigger words” such as COVID-19 in their coverage.
Game Science has yet to respond to IGN’s previous report compiling numerous sexist comments made by the studio’s founders and other developers spanning the last decade.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
