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1. Huayi Brothers' stock price surges

On the eve of the release of Black Myth: Wukong, from August 14 to 20, Huayi Brothers' stock price rose by 70.93% and its market value exceeded 8 billion. In other words, Huayi gained a net profit of 5.6 billion in less than a week.

Why? The reason is that it is an indirect shareholder of Game Science, the company that produced "Black Goku".

Judging from the existing equity relations of Game Science, there are a total of 5 shareholders, including Feng Ji, Shenzhen Youke Interactive Enterprise Management Center (Limited Partnership), Tianjin Hero Financial Holdings Technology Co., Ltd., Shenzhen Youke R&D Enterprise Management Center (Limited Partnership), and Guangxi Tencent Venture Capital Co., Ltd., with shareholding ratios of 38.76%, 27.36%, 18.99%, 9.88%, and 5%, respectively.

Among them, Hero Financial Holdings is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the gaming company Hero Entertainment, and Huayi Brothers is a small shareholder of Hero Entertainment, holding 5.17% of the shares; that is to say, Huayi Brothers indirectly holds approximately 1% of Game Science.

On August 12, an investor asked Huayi Brothers' secretary on an interactive platform: "The annual domestic blockbuster Black Myth Wukong will be launched on the 20th. As a shareholder of Game Science, will the sales of Black Myth Wukong have a positive impact on the company's annual report revenue?" In response, Huayi's secretary replied: "The company holds 74,183,641 unrestricted shares of Hero Games Technology Co., Ltd. (formerly known as Hero Interactive Entertainment Technology Co., Ltd.), accounting for approximately 5.17% of Hero Games' total share capital."

However, some media have previously disclosed that Hero Entertainment actually sold its shares in Game Science as early as 2022 for 280 million yuan (but the equity of Game Science's domestic company has not been changed). If this is true, then Huayi Brothers should no longer hold any shares in Game Science.

Therefore, when investors inquired, Huayi's secretary did not mention that it indirectly held shares in Game Science, perhaps because he knew the inside story.

Therefore, by August 21, investors may have realized that they had made a “wrong investment”, as Huayi Brothers closed down 9.86% that day, with nearly 800 million yuan evaporated in one day.

Not only Huayi Brothers, many "Wukong concept stocks" have seen an increase in share prices - Qitian Technology, Zhejiang Publishing Media, CITIC Publishing, Zhishang Technology, Silk Road Vision and other companies' stocks have soared. Among them, Zhejiang Publishing Media is the publisher of the game "Black Myth" (actually it charges a one-time fee), and it rose by the daily limit for two consecutive days on August 20 and 21; and CITIC Publishing is the company that published the "Black Myth" setting collection, and it also rose by 20% on August 20.

2. Ancient buildings in the west of the volcano

In "Black Myth", Chinese-style buildings from various places are used as the background, with a total of 36 scenic spots, including Mingshan Temple in Sichuan, Dazu Rock Carvings in Chongqing, Lingyin Temple in Zhejiang, etc., while Shanxi has as many as 27, accounting for 75% of the proportion - covering the Hanging Temple, Yungang Grottoes, Shanhua Temple, Nanchan Temple, Youguo Temple, Yingxian Wooden Pagoda, Chongfu Temple, Yuncheng Guandi Temple, Guanque Tower, Jincheng Iron Buddha Temple, etc. in Shanxi.

Therefore, some netizens said that "Shanxi won the game."

How can Shanxi take on this overwhelming wealth? Netizens have suggested that they should quickly develop a "Black Mythology Tourism Line"!

In fact, Shanxi had already made preparations. On the day when Black Myth was released, the Shanxi Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism also released a promotional video for the game; on August 21, it called for "the people of destiny to gather together" and gave away cultural and creative gifts jointly signed by netizens.

The effect is real. According to media reports, since the release of "Black Myth", the number of tourists to some well-known scenic spots in Shanxi, such as Xiaoxitian in Xi County, has increased by 3 times compared with the same period last year.

Influenced by this favorable news, the share price of Shanxi's local listed company "Shanxi Expressway" also soared, hitting the daily limit on August 20 and rising another 7% on the 21st.

3. Adapting famous works to save their reputation

While "Black Myth" was released and received acclaim, the movie "Dream of Red Mansions Part Two: Golden Marriage", which was adapted from another famous novel "Dream of Red Mansions", was criticized.

On August 21, Huang Jiarong, who played Xue Baochai in the film, said during a roadshow when talking about her role: "She didn't get a husband who loved her..." This sentence caused an uproar and was accused of not understanding the original novel. Some netizens questioned whether she had treated "Dream of Red Mansions" as a romance novel? Some netizens angrily criticized, "The actor's understanding of the role is zero, and the director and screenwriter can only read the original novel. Can't you find a cultured person in the entire crew?"

Comparing the two, some netizens lamented that it was fortunate that the Chinese gaming industry had saved the reputation of adapting classics. A certified blogger with the ID "Jupiter Falls Outside the Orbit" said, "The most profound feeling is that the plots produced by game developers are much better than those of domestic entertainment TV series, and they are full of topics from the preface to the ending. Both are derived from the four great classics, but game developers produced "Black Myth: Wukong" and TV drama developers produced "A Dream of Red Mansions: Golden Jade Marriage". Whoever is worse will be embarrassed."

In fact, Game Science, the developer of "Black Myth", does not want to stop at "Journey to the West" and will also draw more inspiration from Chinese classics. After inquiry, it was found that Game Science has successively registered trademarks such as "Black Myth: Jiang Ziya", "Black Myth: Zhong Kui", "Black Myth: Shanhai" and "Black Myth: Dahuang". Perhaps, in the near future, we can see other Chinese mythology games developed by them.

Let's wait and see.

4. Luckin Coffee executives’ remarks sparked controversy

In recent years, the most successful "co-branded product" is the "Sauce Flavor Latte" launched by Luckin Coffee and Moutai in 2023. The popular scene at that time is still vivid in my mind.

This time, the bet was on "Black Myth". One day before the game was officially released, Luckin launched "Black Myth Tengyun Americano" and gave away limited 3D poster grating cards, co-branded cup sleeves and other peripherals. Once it was launched, it was sold out. On the afternoon of August 19, the 3D poster card issued a "restock notice".

In response, Luckin Coffee CGO (Chief Growth Officer) Yang Fei happily posted on WeChat Moments: "The surrounding areas across the country were sold out in seconds, and the system almost crashed. The male purchasing power overturned the team's cognition this morning." Then, still not satisfied, he said in the comment: "It's more reliable than 10 Father's Days."

However, the term "male purchasing power" has caused great dissatisfaction among many netizens.

On Weibo, the most representative comment was made by “Renwu”, a certified illustrator. He said:

“Is Luckin crazy? I find it really funny… So they did a gender survey on all customers who bought the co-branded products to confirm that they were all men? There wasn’t a single woman who bought it? They had to speak out at this time with their brand identity. They just wanted to participate in this discussion on gender issues centered on the black myth, stand up for men, and give men a monument of strong purchasing power.”

5. Wan Qian, Yin Zheng and other celebrities were criticized for playing games

In fact, the words of Luckin Coffee executive Yang Fei did reveal the old problem of gender antagonism in the "Black Myth".

A few years ago, the co-founder and art director of Game Science once said that "some things are made for men" and "we don't need the reverse drive of female players." Game Science founder Feng Ji also said disrespectful words to women. But they have never apologized for this, so when "Black Myth" was first promoted, it encountered resistance from female netizens.

On the evening of August 20, Wan Qian posted a Weibo saying "I'm off work, rubbing my hands" and attached a picture of "Black Myth". Wan Qian is a senior game player and once founded theWorld of Warcraft》He served as the president of the "Gravity" guild and led the guild to compete with the world champion.

However, due to the above-mentioned "insulting women" controversy of "Black Myth", many netizens criticized Wan Qian, believing that female stars should not support games that disrespect women. One fan suggested "just play it privately and don't say it out loud", and then, due to a large number of negative comments, Wan Qian eventually deleted her blog.

Actor Yin Zheng was also criticized for saying "I'll play it as soon as I get home after finishing filming" and deleted his post soon after. Chen He posted on Weibo "I feel bad that I can't play Black Myth on the plane" and in the comment section, some netizens criticized him, "As a public figure, you take the lead in playing a game that insults women!" However, Chen He did not delete his post.

Actress Mu Tingting excitedly said "I cried after watching it" and was proud of the cultural output of "Black Myth". "It's a manifestation of our Chinese culture! I hope this is just a beginning! I'm so proud. Foreigners, do you want to understand how to play it? Read the book first!" The blog post was accompanied by several screenshots of the "Black Myth" game.

Facing the controversy, Mu Tingting reposted and added: "Insulting women? It seems that this game is for boys? If he likes to say that, then let him say it. Girls can play if they want. What's wrong? Can his words really stop you? As for women's rights, in my heart, men and women are equal, but I admit that there are differences in physical and muscular abilities between men and women. There are some things that men are more suitable to do, and some women are better at it, that's all... The point I'm saying is that this is the pride of our Chinese culture, let the world see our culture... Don't use trivial things to pua, disgusting!"

Afterwards, some netizens compiled a list of celebrities who played this game, including "Chen He, Wang Mian, Yang Di, He Guangzhi, Wan Qian, Zhao Lei, Pu Yixing, Qi Sijun, Li Hao, Yin Zheng, Li Jinye, Wang Zijian, Zhang Zining, Yuan Yiqi, Ma Di, Bai Jugang, Sun Yihang...", and noted that "Yuan Yiqi has stated that he will no longer play the game after understanding the whole story."

Some netizens expressed their confusion about this situation, "Because of playing a game, Wan Qian and Mu Tingting were expelled from the female status... I don't understand."

So, what do you think?