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Black Myth: Wukong continues to be popular. So far, the global sales of the game have exceeded 10 million copies. At present, on the one hand, many "destined people" are still "forcing" the white-clothed scholar in the game; on the other hand, many players have already started to "secretly practice" in real life with the same golden hoop stick, and the golden hoop stick has become a hot figurine at the moment.

This time, it not only triggered a rush of purchases from consumers of all ages, but also caused many merchants from Yiwu and other places to be overwhelmed with orders, saying that they would not accept orders less than 10,000, and that the spot goods were already scheduled until next week...

“Who didn’t have a dream of being a great sage when they were little?”

In the game, players hold the golden cudgel and defeat all enemies. On major social media platforms, various physical golden cudgels suddenly rolled up.

"My best friend knew I was playing Black Myth: Wukong and said she wanted to give me a game ornament. I thought it was something weird, but it turned out to be a super cool golden cudgel ornament." Shirley shared the golden cudgel she just received. "The cudgel is made of nine-turn iron forging, and Laojun forged it in the furnace himself. The moment I took the golden cudgel out of my bag, I felt like my childhood superhero had really returned."

Another netizen said with a smile that after seeing her colleagues playing with the golden hoop stick, she decided to buy one to play with as well. She polished the golden hoop stick until it was covered with patina. "I gave it to my boyfriend and he liked it very much. He said it was the first hoop stick he received in the fall."

There are also many netizens who, although they have not had time to buy a golden cudgel, have posted old photos of themselves as children wearing Sun Wukong masks and holding golden cudgels on social media, and wrote that "Who didn't have a dream of being a Monkey King when they were a child?"

Image caption: Netizens on social media posted photos of the same golden hoop they bought

The reporter sorted by price and searched several e-commerce platforms commonly used by consumers and found that on a certain e-commerce platform, the lowest price of the same golden hoop stick in the game was 3 yuan, and the highest price was 268 yuan. On other platforms, there were golden hoop sticks priced at nearly 1,000 yuan, with customized engraving, free extension and other functions.

Image description: When searching for "Golden Hoop" on e-commerce platforms, most of them will include the name of the game.

In terms of sales, the reporter found that in a store in a certain mall, a golden hoop with the game protagonist printed on it has sold nearly 5,000 pieces this month, and the product page shows that more than 100 people bought it within a week. On the 1688 wholesale platform, the golden hoop has ranked first on the list of Ruyi ornaments, with the highest customer return rate reaching 76%.

Image description: The Golden Cudgel topped the list of Ruyi ornaments on a certain platform

“I feel like this game has made many factories popular.”

In addition to the enthusiasm from consumers, there is also passion from merchants.

"The factory's daily output is not enough now. We are shipping products every day. We can currently produce tens of thousands of products a day." A staff member from Weiwei Animation Crafts Store in Luyang District, Hefei City told the Morning News, "Now we need to schedule after placing an order, and the factory can only ship the products in two or three days." He mentioned that the same golden hoop stick as in the game is now sold in the form of pre-sale on e-commerce platforms and is not available in stock. "The machine can't run all the time every day. If this continues, my body can't bear it!"

A staff member of another manufacturer told the Morning News that the sales of the golden cudgel were relatively mediocre before, but have suddenly become popular now. "As long as you sell this thing, it will be popular and have a lot of traffic. The effect of live streaming is very good." He smiled and promoted his own product to the reporter.

A staff member of another factory called Cixi Tuohu Rubber Products Factory said that the popularity of "Black Myth: Wukong" suddenly made the previously unpopular golden cudgel the number one in production volume. Currently, the machines in their factory are running 24 hours a day.

"We have opened dozens of additional molds in the past two days. We can produce 20,000 of these golden hoop sticks a day. They are very popular." Talking about his "non-stop work" in August, the staff member raised his voice and excitedly told the reporter about his busyness. "I remember that on the second day after the game came out, many orders came from all directions." He mentioned that he had sent out 15,000 orders on his own in the past two days, and now it takes more than a week to order the golden hoop stick. "We can't finish them all. At present, we will only accept orders with at least 10,000 orders."

The reporter found that in addition to producing the golden cudgel, the factory also produces mouse pads with the "Black Myth: Wukong" pattern printed on them. The staff said that the sales of this type of mouse pad are also very good. The factory can produce 20,000 to 30,000 pieces a day. Now it can be shipped in about three days after placing an order. "It seems that this game has made many factories popular. My friend's mouse, keyboard and other peripherals related to it are all very popular."

In the Douyin live broadcast room, there are also many anchors explaining and selling the golden hoop. One is that the anchor holds his own product to show it, and the description is "this golden hoop is rare" and "this is a replica of the same prop from "Black Myth: Wukong". At the same time, the live broadcast screen uses eye-catching black fonts to clearly mark: "Black Wukong, the same golden hoop". The reporter noticed that on the purchase interface of the product, it is marked as pre-sale; the other is to play the game screen of "Black Myth: Wukong", and only the golden hoop is on the small yellow car for consumers to choose freely.

Image description: A Douyin merchant is selling the golden hoop

“We are also advertising the game.”

The reporter found that these merchants would clearly mark the words "official genuine" and "genuine" on the product introduction page. The reporter randomly consulted the customer service of a store, and the other party said frankly that these golden hoop sticks were 1:1 restored from the game using 3D printing technology.

Image description: Official authentic products are marked on e-commerce platforms

The customer service staff of the other two stores said that their products were officially authorized by Black Myth: Wukong, but it was inconvenient to display the authorization certificate, which would only be provided to the platform for review later. At the same time, the customer service staff explained to the reporter that the authorization certificate would only be published if the product was jointly authorized.

However, when the reporter asked Taobao's official customer service about "whether it is possible to ask the store to publish the authorization certificate", the other party said that consumers can ask the merchant to provide relevant authorization certificates.

The reporter noticed that Black Myth: Wukong had previously launched a physical collector's edition priced at 1,998 yuan, which included genuine peripherals such as a tight hoop and a three-piece jewelry set, but as of now, the official has not yet launched a gold hoop-related action figure. So, are the acts of selling the gold hoop on e-commerce platforms with labels such as "genuine game authorization" suspected of infringement?

A staff member of a manufacturer told the reporter that he was not sure whether there was a copyright or not, but he produced it because it was very popular. Another staff member said that none of the products currently sold on the market have official authorization, "There are so many manufacturers, they can't manage them all, we are just advertising for them."

The reporter tried to contact the official email address of "Black Myth: Wukong", but no reply was received as of press time.

“Some businesses may be suspected of infringement”

Lawyer Zhou Zhaocheng from Beijing Anjian Law Firm told the Morning News that the actions of these merchants are clearly misleading consumers, causing them to mistakenly believe that these products are officially authorized genuine products, and are very likely suspected of infringement.

Zhou Zhaocheng explained to the reporter in detail that, firstly, if merchants use the Black Myth: Wukong trademark or related logos for sales without official authorization, it will constitute trademark infringement; secondly, the design of characters or props such as the golden hoop in the game is protected by copyright, and merchants who are responsible for and sell these designed figures without permission infringe the copyright of the game developer. In addition, the merchants' claim of "genuine authorization" also violates the Anti-Unfair Competition Law, "because such behavior disrupts the market order and damages the legitimate rights and interests of other operators and consumers."

At present, many businesses want to take advantage of the favorable conditions of "Black Myth: Wukong" to boost the sales of their products. In this regard, Zhou Zhaocheng also gave some suggestions to the businesses. He believes that the most ideal thing at present is to obtain authorization. They should actively contact the copyright holder of "Black Myth: Wukong" to obtain formal production and sales authorization. This is the most direct and effective way to avoid risks.

If authorization cannot be obtained, merchants can consider innovative designs based on respect for the original work, and launch figures or peripheral products with their own unique style. In addition, during the sales process, the source and nature of the product must be clearly marked to avoid misleading consumers.

The reporter noticed that in June this year, the Xuhui District Market Supervision and Administration Bureau of Shanghai announced an administrative penalty case for infringement of a registered trademark for another equally popular domestic game, Genshin Impact. Fang Mou, who designed, produced and sold pirated cards of Genshin Impact, and his company were fined a total of more than 570,000 yuan. Mihoyo also said that it would use thundering means to announce to the outside world its determination to severely punish infringements.

The legal director of a listed game company said in an interview with the Morning News that it is very important to do the relevant copyright registration in advance for games like the popular Black Myth: Wukong. This includes the registration of patents for the appearance design of original peripherals, as well as the registration of artworks for related peripheral materials and promotional materials used in the sale of peripherals. In addition, if the names of the game props and characters are original names, the original names of the props can also be registered for detailed trademark protection.

From the perspective of the authorized party who produces, manufactures and sells game peripherals, the person in charge believes that the promotional interface of game peripherals must strictly comply with the supervision opinions of the IP rights holder, and cannot exceed the authorized authority or be released or sold without supervision. At the same time, it is necessary to pay attention to the infringement monitoring of e-commerce platforms to avoid the large-scale sale of pirated products.

Standing at the forefront of the Black Myth: Wukong, anything that has something to do with it seems to become popular. So, how long can the traffic brought by Black Myth: Wukong last? A staff member of a manufacturer said confidently: "We often make such hot IPs. I estimate that the popularity can last at least three months."

"Whether it is merchants or consumers, when it comes to peripheral products such as game figures, they should abide by relevant laws and regulations, respect intellectual property rights, and jointly maintain a healthy and orderly market environment," said Zhou Zhaocheng.