On August 19, Caijing News (Reporter Cui Ming) reported that with such a phenomenal influence before its release, "Myth of Darkness: Wukong" can be said to be unique in the industry.

The annual domestic game masterpiece "Myth of Darkness: Wukong" will be officially released at 10 am tomorrow, bringing a heavy catalyst to the game sector. Concept stocks related to the "Monkey King" concept have risen one after another. At present, the game's pre-sales have topped the Steam bestseller list in many regions worldwide. The industry expects sales to exceed 5 million copies after the game's official release, and even reach the level of tens of millions of copies sold.

"Myth of Darkness: Wukong" is an ARPG (action role-playing) game developed by Game Science. In the game, players will play a "person of destiny", embark on a dangerous and wonderful journey to the West to explore the truth of the legendary past.

This standalone game, launched in 2018, is a rare game in the industry that has been high-profile since early development. After six years of polishing, "Myth of Darkness: Wukong" costs at least 0.4 billion yuan due to its huge production scale. It is not an overstatement to say that it carries the high expectations of being the first domestic 3A-level game masterpiece.

Caijing News reporters have learned that some companies have issued notices to take a day off tomorrow, conditional on pre-ordering "Myth of Darkness: Wukong", and even some game companies have directly given employees "Myth of Darkness: Wukong". Some industry insiders joked that "I believe the HR of big companies will receive all sorts of strange reasons for leave tomorrow."

"Monkey King" Stocks Soared

As the pillar in the domestic game industry, the heat of "Myth of Darkness: Wukong" has spread to the capital market, and related concept stocks such as Huayi Brothers Media Corporation (300027.SZ), China Zhejiang Publishing & Media Group (601921.SH), and CITIC Press Corporation (300788.SZ) have risen one after another.

Today, Huayi Brothers Media Corporation has opened its trading with a limit-up. As of the close, it reported at RMB 2.47/share with a daily increase of 19.9%. Recently, Huayi Brothers Media Corporation expressed on the investor interaction platform that the company holds 5.17% equity of Hero Entertainment, an early investor in Game Science, the developer of "Myth of Darkness: Wukong".

Tianyancha shows that in 2021, Game Science received Tencent's private equity investment. After the change was completed, Tencent owned 5% of the equity, producer Feng Ji held 38.76%, and Hero Entertainment held 19%. Based on this calculation, Huayi Brothers Media Corporation indirectly owns about 1% of the equity of Game Science. It is worth noting that these data only stayed in 2021.

According to Hero Entertainment's 2022 annual report, the company has sold Game Science's equity, and received the first transfer payment of 0.28 billion yuan in 2022. The remaining 0.2 billion yuan will be paid at another agreed-upon time (not earlier than April 1, 2025). According to Huayi Brothers Media Corporation's 2023 annual report, the company pledged its 5.17% equity of Hero Entertainment to obtain short-term borrowings of 0.197 billion yuan from China Zheshang Bank.

Choice data shows that Zhejiang Publishing & Media Group's stock price has increased by about 20% since the beginning of this year. The highest point of the stock price this year occurred on June 12, which is the third day of pre-sales of "Myth of Darkness: Wukong". Prior to this, in February, when "Myth of Darkness: Wukong" was approved for the domestic game version number, Zhejiang Publishing & Media Group ushered in a wave of rising.

Zhejiang Publishing & Media Group has recently expressed on the investor interaction platform that its subsidiary, Zhejiang Publishing Group Digital Media Co., Ltd., is the publisher of the game "Myth of Darkness: Wukong", responsible for game content review, publication declaration, and publication number application.

Caijing News reporters learned from the industry that the publishing unit collects one-time fees (publishing fees) in the application for the number. The fees range from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands, depending on the game. "The high or low publishing fee has little effect on the overall cost of the game."

In addition to the game itself, CITIC Press Corporation will participate in the publishing of the "Myth of Darkness: Wukong" set. The game set generally includes detailed information such as the background story of the game world, character design, item design, and scene depiction, which has collectible value. Considering the extremely high performance of "Myth of Darkness: Wukong" in art, institutional insiders expect that the rise in the heat of the game will also drive the growth of peripheral commodities.

Caijing News reporters noticed that some merchants have already sold commodities called "Myth of Darkness: Wukong Art Setting Collection" on some e-commerce platforms and second-hand trading platforms for a price ranging from 2 to 5 yuan. The vast majority of them are electronic versions of official materials released by Game Science in the past few years (such as original paintings), which may infringe on intellectual property rights. So far, the official content and pricing of the physical setting collection of "Myth of Darkness: Wukong" has not been announced.

Overseas sales are highly anticipated.

As a buyout game released simultaneously globally on PS5 and PC platforms (Steam/Epic Games Store/wegame), Black Myth: Wu Kong has been viewed as "the hope of the whole village" by many industry insiders, and its overseas reputation and sales situation have been closely watched by the industry.

Recently, the global media score for Black Myth: Wu Kong was released. According to Metacritic statistics, 52 global media outlets gave an average score of 82. Among them, the authoritative media website IGN gave a score of 8, while IGN China gave a full score of 10.

It is reported that the standard edition of Black Myth: Wu Kong is priced at 268 yuan. According to the 2024 National Game Sales Half-Yearly List, the game's sales revenue reached 0.39 billion yuan and sales volume reached 1.2 million copies after one month of presale. This significantly broke the presale record of domestic games (the original record was at the 0.1 million level). There are also sources claiming that the game has already surpassed 3 million copies sold on all platforms at the end of July. However, it is currently unclear what percentage of overseas players make up the sales volume.

Industry insiders have told Caixin reporters that the market's sales expectations for the game are above 5 million copies, and it may even reach the level of tens of millions of copies. In other words, without considering the 20%-30% commission charged by the platform, the revenue of Black Myth: Wu Kong after its release is expected to exceed 2.6 billion yuan.

Compared to other well-known global ARPG games, Elden Ring, which was released in February 2022, has sold over 25 million copies worldwide, with a reference price of 298 yuan in the China region (low price area). This game's global revenue has exceeded 7.45 billion yuan. God of War 4, released in 2018, has now sold over 23 million copies, with an estimated revenue of 6.42 billion yuan based on the 279 yuan selling price in the China region.

Institutional sources have told Caixin reporters that Black Myth: Wu Kong's launch is worth paying attention to in terms of three dimensions: game reputation, popularity, and sales. "This game symbolizes the breakthrough of China's game R&D strength and industrialization level, and it also has a positive significance for the overseas expansion of games and culture," they said.

No matter how the commercial performance of Black Myth: Wu Kong turns out, its significance to Chinese players has far exceeded that of a game product, showing the charm of traditional Chinese culture to the world. As the producer Feng Ji said, "It is more important to set out on the journey to the west than to reach the sacred mountain."