Everything you need to know about Black Myth: Wu Kong

Amidst China's ever-growing presence within the gaming scene, the most impressive title in development is Black Myth: Wu Kong, an awesome-looking action-adventure game inspired by the classic Journey to the West myth. The game was first spotlighted on August 20, 2020 by Niko Partners analyst Daniel Ahmad on Twitter after a lengthy gameplay reveal video dropped on YouTube.

Since then, the game has gained some traction across the internet, though information on the game in English is still a bit scarce. If you want to know what the developers of Black Myth: Wu Kong have revealed so far about its release window, platforms, and the world, we've rounded up everything revealed about the game so far.

Is there a Black Myth: Wu Kong trailer?

Yes, there is. The game was revealed via a 13-minute gameplay video posted to YouTube on August 19. After a brief bit of story context at the beginning, the rest is mostly uncut gameplay showing both normal combat as well as the various forms the main character can transform into. It culminates in a montage showing off the world of Black Myth: Wu Kong, several bosses, and the ability to fly around the world on a cloud.

Only the opening dialogue has an English translation and there are a couple of errors, but most of the game is in Chinese. Still, it's an impressive first showing from a studio that isn't well-known in the West.

When is the Black Myth: Wu Kong release date?

As the game is still in the middle of development, no specific release date or window was shared for Black Myth: Wu Kong. That said, the developers did give some insight into their "release it when its ready" game design philosophy on the game's website, which was translated into English by Gematsu.

"While we will not necessarily need 500 years to finish, we will ship it only when we feel satisfied as players," developer Game Science Studio says. "But we will also consider performance and cost ratio, as well as marginal effect. After all, more works in the Black Myth series are in serious planning (in our dreams)."

It appears that the developers would like to make Black Myth: Wu Kong a larger franchise, and the timeline of those projects as well as the game's development are finalized yet. Even then, we don't know if Black Myth: Wu Kong will have a simultaneous worldwide release or if it will come out in China first and then be released in the rest of the world.

What platforms is Black Myth: Wu Kong being developed for?

The developers aren't very specific about what platforms Black Myth: Wu Kong will be released on yet outside of confirming that it will come to PC and consoles. As it probably won't be released for quite some time, next-gen releases on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X seem likely, especially if those platforms come to China. But for now, it's probably being developed with PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in mind.

What is the Black Myth: Wu Kong story?

Black Myth: Wu Kong is based on the mythology surrounded the classic Chinese Journey to the West myth. This tale about a Buddhist monk's adventure to the western regions of Asia has been adapted into several games and even served as the basis for the popular Dragon Ball franchise. Now, Game Science Studio is taking a crack at the myth, leaning heavily into the fantastical elements of it to create an interesting world for players to explore.

What does Black Myth: Wu Kong gameplay look like?

The reveal trailer for Black Myth: Wu Kong gives a really in-depth look at how the game plays. It is a third-person action-adventure game where players can fight with a staff using magical abilities and multiple stances. Additionally, there are certain animal transformations that the main character can use for both traversal and combat. Daniel Ahmad teased that over 72 abilities will be in the final game.

You can definitely see Dark Souls' influence on Black Myth: Wu Kong's methodical action gameplay. But it definitely moves at a faster pace than FromSoftware's games, bringing it closer to other Soulslike titles like Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. Still, the game manages to look fresh and unique thanks to slick animation, unique magical abilities, and stylish animations.

A gameplay sizzle reel towards the end of the reveal video also confirms that players will eventually be able to fly around the world in a cloud.

Is Black Myth: Wu Kong going to be free-to-play?

Many Chinese games that make their way westward like Genshin Impact wind up becoming free-to-play titles. For now, that doesn't appear to be the case with Black Myth: Wu Kong as the game's website confirmed that this is a premium, one-time purchase game.

The website also hints that Black Myth: Wu Kong might get DLC after launch, but don't expect this game to be free-to-play or have microtransactions.

Who is the developer behind Black Myth: Wu Kong?

The developer behind Black Myth: Wu Kong is Game Science Studio. Despite the game's impressive Unreal Engine 4 powered visuals, this is actually a smaller team made up of former Tencent developers. Black Myth: Wu Kong won't be their first game though, as the studio is known for the RTS Art of War: Red Tides.

Daniel Ahmad gave more details about the studio on Twitter, confirming that it was established in 2014 and has a team of around 40 people that have an average of 13 years of development series. Black Myth: Wu Kong has put this fledgling studio on the map; hopefully, they can prove themselves with this game a lot of people are now excited for.