Culture | Monkey business

“Black Myth: Wukong” is China’s first blockbuster video game

Will there be more?

A still from the 2024 video game, Black Myth: Wukong.
Taking it to the next levelPhotograph: Game Science/YouTube

YOU ARE thrust into the heat of battle—a clash so violent it has “disturbed heaven and Earth” and “alarmed both demons and gods”. Playing as Sun Wukong, aka the Monkey King, you wield the jin gu bang (a fabled staff weighing eight tonnes) and face down Erlang, a three-eyed warrior-god. You must be wily, not to mention nimble: Erlang’s axe can cleave entire mountains in two. (And you thought your day job was stressful.)

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This article appeared in the Culture section of the print edition under the headline ““Black Myth: Wukong” is a hit”

From the August 31st 2024 edition

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