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Whether you see it as a AA or AAA title, Game Sciences Black Myth: Wukong was undeniably one of the few major releases that didnt disappoint the gaming community in 2024, boasting solid sales numbers and high review scores on Steam and Metacritic.However, the games critics often attributed its success to its home country, China, suggesting that without the countrys enormous population, Wukong wouldnt be pulling in such substantial revenue or claiming the Players Voice Award at The Game Awards 2024. Recently, the games Art Director and Co-Founder of Game Science Yang Qi unintentionally addressed these critiques, revealing just how successful the action RPG would have been without factoring in the Chinese market.Game ScienceSpeaking at the West Lake Art Forum held at the School of Animation and Games of the China Academy of Art, Yang mentioned that 30% of the games player base comes from outside China, a figure that surprised the team, considering international players might not be familiar with or feel connected to the cultural content of the game.According to the developer, while players from abroad might not understand Wukongs design of spaces, styles, stories, and performance, they can still appreciate the core content as long as the logic behind it is consistent and resonates with common experiences. Familiarity and strangeness form a scale, Yang explained, conforming to the philosophy of The Doctrine of the Mean, one of the Four Books of classical Chinese philosophy, whose central theme is that doing things impartially is the highest ethical standard.30% and ancient philosophy are all well and good, but how does that translate to revenues? Lets do the math: as per Niko Partners January 30 report, Black Myth: Wukong sold 25 million copies, and provided Yangs information is correct, 30% of those sales, or 7.5 million copies, came from outside China.Considering the games base price of $60 and, for the sake of argument, halving it to $30 to account for Steam fees, regional price adjustments, and other factors, those 7.5 million copies would rake in around $225 million. The resulting figure is enough to cover the games $70 million production budget (development and marketing included) three times over, proving that Black Myth: Wukong would still be a success even without Chinese players.Click here to read Yang Qis full interview (in Chinese) and dont forget to join our80 Level Talent platformand ournew Discord server, follow us onInstagram,Twitter,LinkedIn,Telegram,TikTok, andThreads,where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.Source link The post 30% of Black Myth: Wukong Players Arent From China, the Games Art Director Says appeared first on CG SHARES.