The release of China’s biggest PC game to date, Black Myth: Wukong, also sparked an unusual buying spree for Sony Group Corp’s PlayStation 5.
The PS5 jumped to the top of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd’s list for electronics game equipment in the week leading up to Wukong’s Aug 20 release, doubling its sales from the same period a year earlier.
Playable on the Sony console as well as on PC, Wukong was top of Alibaba’s Taobao hot search on launch day and enticed gamers to buy new hardware in a market where mobile gaming typically reigns supreme.
While small by the scale of Sony’s global business, the surge in China is a rare occasion of local consumers embracing the console segment of the gaming world. Sony and rival Nintendo Co have tried for years to gain a stronger foothold in the world’s biggest games market.
Developed by Hangzhou-based studio Game Science, Wukong was an instant hit, with more than 2.2 million PC gamers playing it concurrently around the world. It has sustained that momentum with well over a million people logged in and experiencing the mythical adventures of the titular Monkey King on Aug 21.
Its popularity on consoles has yet to be quantified, but the early indication from these bumper PS5 sales in China – where consumer spending has been stunted for months – suggests the frenzy around the game is widespread.
Tencent Holdings Ltd has a 5% stake in creator Game Science, which was founded by former Tencent employees, and also distributes the game on its WeGame online platform. – Bloomberg
