Western and Japanese developers have always had a steady hold in the AAA gaming space as far back as anyone can remember. With the advent of the ninth generation of consoles, however, the tides have finally started to shift.
China is steadily establishing a foothold in AAA gaming, and Game Science’s upcoming action RPG Black Myth: Wukong seems to be leading the charge.
Black Myth: Wukong has been in development for more than half a decade, although the developers have released new gameplay featurettes regularly over the course.
Like Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, it has quickly achieved the status of a most anticipated game of this generation. Many of you might be wondering about the story of Black Myth, its gameplay, core mechanics, and especially when Sun Wukong finally swings into action.
If that is the case, then here’s all you need to know about Game Science’s ambitious action RPG.
When is Black Myth: Wukong Release Date?
In a new release window trailer, Game Science has officially confirmed that Black Myth: Wukong will release sometime during Summer 2024. This is a reiteration of the original launch window of 2023 which the studio had stated previously, but judging from the progress of the development from the recent trailers, Summer 2024 should be as good as gold.
Game Science is a relatively small crew, and because of that factor, the studio stated in 2020 that it would take them about 3—4 years to wrap up development on Black Myth.
So the math adds up to the aforementioned release date.
It’s hard putting out a game of this size, especially when you’re dipping your toe into a market as big as the gaming industry. Phantom Blade 0, Project: The Perceiver, and Lost Soul Aside are other AAA games being built in China, and surprisingly, they also don’t have a definitive release date yet.
These are untested waters for the studios working on these IPs, and it’s safe to assume that they’re mouling everything over a million times before making a decision.
What Platforms Will Black Myth: Wukong Be Released On?
Black Myth: Wukong is being developed for the PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. Rumor had it that the last generation of consoles might be supported along with a port for the Switch, however, this sounds unlikely considering how demanding the title is.
While Black Myth: Wukong will arrive on the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S consoles, at the moment, only its PC release is guaranteed in Summer 2024.
The trailers, although spectacular at showcasing the game, haven’t addressed whether the PC and console release dates will be the same. The probable outcome appears to be that the title will be released on PC first, with the console ports coming out around six months later.
Like most upcoming Chinese AAA games, Black Myth: Wukong is running on Unreal Engine 5. Initially, Game Science was using Unreal Engine 4, but then later reports came that they had switched to Unreal Engine 5, which is the case.
Nvidia and Epic Games are also helping the studio in the game’s development, so expect heavy-duty Nvidia DLSS support, Ray tracing, and no bugs for PC — hopefully.
Epic Games’ involvement also all but confirms that Black Myth: Wukong will release exclusively on the Epic Game Store. For consoles on the other hand, there should be the usual two graphics settings that have you picking between upscaled 4k at 30 frames or upscaled 1440p at 60 frames.
What’s Black Myth: Wukong About?
Game Science is basing the story for Black Myth: Wukong loosely off Journey to the West, the classic 16-century Chinese novel about the monk Xuanzang and his disciples’ pilgrimage to retrieve ancient scriptures. How RPG combat comes into play here is because, along the way, the caravan encounters many mythical hostiles.
It’s still a little too early to say whether all the characters from the book carry over, or whether they’ll be involved in the same light, but what’s for sure is that Sun Wukong is at the heart of it. Chinese folklore is also a major driving force for not only Black Myth’s story, but also its gameplay, the enemies, and the open-world.
A Modern Spin On The Soulslike Formula
There’s an uncanny resemblance between Black Myth: Wukong and FromSoftware‘s Souls games. The aesthetic, story, and gameplay are alike, but Black Myth isn’t necessarily the same sub-genre of Souls as what FromSoftware makes.
It’s an action RPG with many Soulslike elements, but it packs hefty new features that (literally) transform its core gameplay.
In the gameplay trailers, there’s an emphasis on utilizing Wukong’s shape-shifting abilities and his magical staff. While shape-shifting comes off more as an ultimate ability with a variety to choose from, the staff seems to be the only weapon Wukong can wield.
But even the staff isn’t just a simple staff. It can increase its length, decrease it, catch fire, and do plenty more. It’s an amalgamation of weapons, to say the least, so for those worried about stale combat, that won’t be a problem.
Like Elden Ring, Black Myth: Wukong will have over 100 unique enemies. The gameplay trailers have shown dozens of bosses and mobs, and each of them is indeed an original idea. There may be a lot of enemies in the game, but I’m under the impression many of them will be located in optional areas.
Game Science’s producer told IGN that Black Myth: Wukong will take at least 15 hours to beat. I don’t see all of the enemies fitting into that timeframe of the main story, so expect to travel across the semi-open world searching for those last few giant werewolves.
It’s been a long-time coming for Game Science. What started a daring endeavor into the AAA gaming space has now almost become a reality.
You can nail down the Summer 2024 window to sometime around June to August, which isn’t all that long. And since we have other blockbuster games like Alan Wake 2 and Starfield coming out in Fall 2023, time will pass in a jiffy.
