Only a product that makes people happy can drive consumption and promote the progress of human society. This logic is so natural and may even be the only one. This is the truth of the market economy.

Written by Qingliu

On August 20, the game "Black Myth: Wukong》is officially launched.

The first trailer released in 2020 shocked the industry. After years of polishing and official launch, "Black Myth: Wukong" has become a hot topic.

Its momentum is indeed terrifying. It topped the trending searches, dominated the WeChat Moments, broke records on various platforms, and also drove up the stock prices of related companies.There is no doubt that it is destined to be a landmark work.

What makes many people feel more encouraged is that Black Myth: Wukong is not only popular in China, but also popular abroad. The game is currently ranked first in the global weekly sales of the game platform Steam, and it has topped the charts in 12 countries including the United States, Singapore, Thailand, Canada, Brazil, and Italy.

All the compliments were thrown at it: the first domestic AAA masterpiece, cultural export, soft power, etc. In addition to the gaming industry, almost all platforms, including mainstream media and government new media, were paying attention to this game. You could even see some official media accounts directly starting game live broadcasts, playing games while at work.

This scene is really magical. At this moment, almost all players are proud, and people can finally say that they play games. Think about it, not long ago, games were still a scourge, something that was a waste of time and a disaster for teenagers, but now these negative labels have almost completely disappeared.

This makes one wonder:Is it possible that this time, games can get rid of their stigma?

The answer may not be that simple.

01

I also played the game as soon as it was released, and I almost watched the clock waiting for the game to be released. On the PS5 platform, there will be a countdown, and you can see that the opening time is getting closer and closer. This sense of ritual is really weird and magical.

I played for about three or four hours. As a player who has played almost all 3A games in recent years,I think Black Myth: Wukong is indeed a 3A-level game.During these three or four hours, I could hardly put down the controller except to go to the bathroom.

The so-called 3A games refer to games with high development costs, long development cycles, and excellent production. But in fact, this is not a rigorous concept, nor is it an indicator certified by any association. You can probably understand it as the "first-class level" recognized by players.

This is a very subjective assessment, but it’s nothing special. For example, if you watch NBA regularly, you will know what top players look like. The same is true for games. If you play a lot, you will probably know what the top players look like.

There is no doubt that "Black Myth: Wukong" has reached this level.Not to mention the game mechanics, the fact that every frame of the game can be used as a wallpaper is enough to prove its quality.

Why has "Black Myth: Wukong" become so popular?

The reason is simple. It is considered the first 3A game in China. It is a breakthrough from scratch. Its importance in the minds of players is no less than the breakthrough of the Chinese national football team winning the gold medal.

So why are AAA games so important?

3A games are considered to be a sign that the game industry has entered the first camp, which is equivalent to building an airplane in the industrial system. Currently, only game companies in a few countries such as the United States, Europe, and Japan can make 3A games, and there are only a few of them.

In terms of size, China's game industry is already large enough in terms of output value. Many years ago, China became the world's largest game market; and among the top 50 listed game companies in the world in terms of game revenue in 2023, China has 17 companies on the list, ranking first among all countries.

However, the fact that China “has no 3A games” has always been a concern.

Not to mention the hysterical parents, even the domestic players themselves often look down on their own games. Internet memes such as "skin-changing mobile game", "pay-to-win mobile game", "max level with one sword", and "brothers, come and chop me" are endless.

This is mainly because China lacks a mature console gaming culture. In the era when console gaming was popular (1960s to 1990s), there was no mature gaming market in China. By the time the domestic gaming industry began to mature, it was already the mobile phone era, and most manufacturers chose this device with the highest penetration rate for development.

As a result, almost all domestically produced games that have gone viral are mobile games. But the problem with mobile games is that they are restricted by the development standards of device performance, and the industrial level cannot reach the top level in the industry.

Moreover, the profit model of mobile games is mostly through simple and direct stimulation (you can become stronger by spending money), or even by taking advantage of human weaknesses (buying gorgeous skins, spending money to become a server boss, and other social show-offs). This makes the domestic game industry very profitable, but also very easy to withstand various criticisms.

But 3A games have entered another realm.

If 3A games want to be successful, they can only rely on visual performance, game creativity and narrative immersion. Only then can the game truly be called a work of art.Moreover, 3A games are basically a buyout system, that is, a one-time payment. You cannot make your character stronger by continuously spending money. You must sit down and play the game seriously to witness a story.

This is why domestic players are so excited. It means that domestic gamers have finally produced a game that can "make money while standing still".

What’s more, the 3A games I played before were all foreign works, and you could only travel through a foreign cultural space; but this time, someone finally built a game world that belongs to Chinese culture.

02

This time, negative voices about games have almost completely disappeared. Tones such as "electronic opium", "disruption of ambition", and "corruption of teenagers" are nowhere to be seen.

Part of the reason may be that the mainstream groups that have previously made these voices, such as those anxious parents who are eager for relevant departments to help manage their children, cannot understand and cannot touch it - "Black Myth: Wukong" is only available on PC and PS5 platforms, and children cannot play it with a mobile phone.

Another reason is that people must admit that "Black Myth: Wukong" has gained a righteous cause - cultural output.This is like a royal bomb that can quickly silence the gossips.

Black Myth: Wukong is based on Journey to the West, and the overall aesthetic style and scene design are very Chinese. Moreover, there is nothing half-baked in it, and the Chinese elements are polished very maturely. For example, those ancient buildings are said to be restored according to real ancient buildings, which shows the strength of the game.

Moreover, Black Myth: Wukong has indeed been a successful cultural export. This game is also very popular among foreign players. Many foreign netizens are online asking for the English version of Journey to the West to supplement their background knowledge. These encouraging news have long been compiled and introduced into the domestic public opinion field.

These quickly gave the game value and allowed public opinion to quickly find the most reasonable and correct angle of entry.

So you can see that even people who have never played games are also praising this game:It doesn’t matter if you don’t understand the game, you will definitely say good things about its cultural output.

This is certainly a good thing, but it is also worth pondering - for a domestic game to be recognized by mainstream public opinion, it is probably not enough to have quality and sales alone. It must have some additional "value" and "meaning" to give people a "hook".

But it is unlikely that all games are of the same type. Suppose, if there is a game with equally amazing quality in all aspects, but the background of the game is an exotic culture, then is it possible for it to be praised by everyone?

It’s not just Black Myth: Wukong. Almost every time the public opinion of the game turns around, it has to be through additional value. For example, the last time it was because of AI: people knew that AI was particularly important for technological development, and then they found that graphics cards developed by Nvidia were crucial to AI, and they also found that the gaming industry was crucial to the development of graphics cards.

After such a long chain of logic, people finally admit that "games are important."Only at this time, because the game carries a greater value, can it be taken seriously.

Therefore, even if "Black Myth: Wukong" has almost no negative reviews in the public opinion field this time, I am afraid people cannot say that the game has gotten rid of the stigma and gained the legitimacy of "mass recognition."

This is more like a coincidence. With the blessing of many elements, all parties have found the "greatest common divisor". It is hard to say whether the next domestic 3A masterpiece will have such luck.

03

After the release of Black Myth: Wukong, many netizens said they would buy new computers. This casual comment actually revealed the secret of the gaming industry: people just wanted to have more fun and have more fun, but they didn't expect to promote the development of games; and games, in turn, promoted the progress of the world.

The reason why games can drive graphics cards is actually not about any design, planning, or "big chess" or anything like that. It's just one thing - players want better pictures, more refined displays, higher frame rates, and more characters displayed on the same screen, so graphics card companies have to make chips more precise and increase computing power infinitely.

People just discovered by chance that the parallel computing capability of graphics cards is very useful for AI training, and the AI ​​industry has developed from this. The starting point of all this is actually a very simple thing -It's human nature, people want to have more fun, that's all.

This reminds me of a saying by Adam Smith: We expect our dinner not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker, but from their particular attention to their own interests. A complex system, a long-term progress, a breakthrough that brings mankind into a new dimension, actually comes from the small and insignificant desires of human beings themselves.

Today we recognize Black Myth: Wukong, in part because it has many great values. But will there be a day when we recognize it just because it can meet people's most instinctive needs: making people happy?

It is hard to understand why games are always so depressing and so inferior in the domestic public opinion field.

From the perspective of the cultural industry, it is actually much larger than the film and TV industry. As early as 2015, the global game industry reached $92 billion, exceeding the total of the film industry ($62 billion) and the music industry ($18 billion). In recent years, the gap has further widened.

If you think about it carefully, there is actually a logic behind this: a product that makes people happy can drive consumption and promote the progress of human society.This logic is so natural, perhaps even unique, that this is the truth of the market economy.

When people deny games, they are, to some extent, denying human nature. Happiness is so precious, but people disdain games that can bring happiness. How much meaning does a life without happiness have? And how much potential does an economy that cannot meet primitive emotional needs have?

So, if one day, public opinion can more simply recognize a game like "Black Myth: Wukong": there is no other meaning, it is just because it is fun, then it is purer and actually more advanced - people are finally braver to acknowledge the most instinctive human nature, and finally discover some kind of rules and truth.