China isn’t PlayStation’s primary market, but Black Myth: Wukong boosted PS5 sales to a degree that even Sony might not have expected…

The success of Black Myth: Wukong probably comes as no surprise. Especially if you look at the Steam stats, as it is the second most concurrently played game on Valve’s store at the moment. Game Science’s action RPG aims to change the Chinese console game market paradigm. Because it could also encourage other talented studios to release titles globally, which would benefit players and companies alike.

However, Bloomberg reports that the PS5 has made inroads in the Chinese market thanks to Black Myth: Wukong! The game is said to have triggered an “unusual wave of PlayStation 5 purchases”. They mention that Sony’s console became the best-selling electronic item on the country’s biggest online store, Alibaba, a week before the title was released. It wouldn’t be surprising if the momentum continued for a few more weeks. Given that Game Science’s RPG was a bigger hit than expected.

This is important for Sony because China is not a significant market for the PlayStation.

In fact, the market for consoles in the country is not as big as we think. Lately, we’ve seen the Japanese company’s efforts to enter this space, such as its participation at the ChinaJoy event with the Phantom Blade Zero. As a result, Sony’s sales doubled year-on-year.

Black Myth: Wukong could boost the Chinese market

At least, this is the conclusion of Niko Partners’ market analysts. Black Myth: Wukong represents the trend of Chinese studios being able to compete with Western and Japanese studios. The fact that such a pay-versus-free-to-play title has become successful in China also indicates a change in market dynamics. Even the developer of Phantom Blade Zero said that Wukong could help in the Chinese market. And that’s something we’re likely to see over time. In Korea, for example, the success of Stellar Blade or Lies of P has prompted the government to become a “showcase” for publishers and will invest millions in the industry.

Source: Bloomberg, Niko Partners