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the center of the storm often appears strangely calm.

game science's office in xiangshan art commune, xihu district, hangzhou, is in such a peaceful place. this inconspicuous three-story white building is surrounded by a circle of 3-meter-high bamboo, as if intentionally drawing a dividing line to keep all the disturbances out. at the door, game science uses a sign to call out to players who want to come and "worship": design is busy, r&d is intense, please do not enter without permission, please forgive me.

photo taken by times finance reporter at the entrance of game science office

this isblack myth: wukongon august 20, this game product, which is considered to be the first domestic 3a masterpiece, was officially launched, and quickly triggered an unexpected discussion storm in the public opinion field. the influence of related topics has far exceeded the previous expectations of industry insiders.

not only did the sales of the game itself exceed 10 million copies in 3 days, becoming one of the fastest console games to achieve this goal in history, but related topics also dominated the weibo hot search list for many days in a row, and a series of co-branded peripherals were also snapped up.

but unlike the extremely high popularity on the internet, the office and surroundings of game science seem exceptionally quiet.

one afternoon in late august, when times finance visited the office, it was found that there was no noisy celebration or overwhelming promotional materials. the only thing that reminded visitors was a dark blue umbrella with "game science" printed on it in the corner of the door and several security guards squatting around the office.

any uninvited visitor who approaches the game science office or raises his phone to take a photo or video will be stopped by a security guard who suddenly pops out from the corner. one of the security guards told times finance that they have a total of 10 people working in two shifts 24 hours a day to ensure the safety of the game science office.

"in the past few days, dozens of waves of players came every day and wanted to go in to take a look or take pictures outside." the security guard mentioned above pointed out that they were required not to let anyone approach the office or take pictures outside, and even the security guards themselves had hardly ever entered this mysterious office.

before the on-site visit, times finance learned that game science is still in a closed development stage and has not made any external statements.

the back of the game science office, with all the curtains drawn. photo by times finance

secret office

xiangshan art commune is not a lively cultural and creative park.

on a weekday afternoon when times finance visited, the place was so quiet that it was almost pale. many shops on the first floor were vacant, and there was almost no human activity except for a few pedestrians and vehicles on the road. apart from a cafe and a convenience store, xiangshan art commune had few other facilities. on the park bulletin board, there were still exhibition posters from one or two years ago.

the exhibition posters on the roadside of xiangshan art commune are still in 2022. photo by times finance

the prosperity and bustle have nothing to do with this cultural and creative park located in the southwest of hangzhou's main urban area, about 20 kilometers from the city center. in the vicinity of xiangshan art commune, apart from the densely populated residential areas and several low mountains, only the xiangshan campus of the china academy of art, which is located immediately to the east, is impressive.

the geographical location has laid the foundation for the temperament of xiangshan art commune. in the project's investment brochure, times finance saw that xiangshan art commune is defined as a unique space that integrates four attributes: art, life, cultural creation, and office. it hopes to create core business formats such as urban camping, art bookstores, catering and retail, coffee communities, and well-known artists' studios - game companies do not seem to be among them.

"because it is close to the china academy of art, the (xiangshan art) commune is mostly populated by art and design companies," an employee working in a nearby studio told times finance. because of this, she didn't know for a long time that there was a game production company in the park. it was not until a friend reminded her after the game was released that she discovered that the birthplace of the hotly discussed "black myth: wukong" was actually in the park where she worked.

"but i still don't know which building they are in," she said.

even now, when searching for game technology on various map software, it is still impossible to get the exact address. without guidance, it is difficult for outsiders to find this somewhat hidden office. in the afternoon of the field visit, times finance also ran into tatsuo eguchi, chairman and president of sony interactive entertainment (shanghai) co., ltd., who was invited to visit and communicate.

the popularity of black myth: wukong has boosted the sales of ps5 in china. data from the tmall platform shows that after the release of the game, the sales of ps5 consoles in sony playstation tmall's official flagship store increased by more than 100% year-on-year, becoming the top seller of video game equipment for four consecutive days. jd international data shows that on the day the game was released, ps5 sales, including japanese and hong kong versions, increased by more than 11 times year-on-year.

but like most visitors, tatsuo eguchi was unable to find the location of the game science hangzhou office immediately. he was wearing a black t-shirt with the logo of "black myth: wukong" printed on it, and he followed the arrows on his phone navigation system, and got lost in the streets of the suburbs of hangzhou. with the help of a reporter from times finance, tatsuo eguchi finally met the receptionist of game science and turned around to enter game science.

people who can endure loneliness

but this kind of concealment and isolation may be exactly what game science needs.

10 years ago, game science was not established in hangzhou. the main creative team of this young game company all came from tencent, so the company was established in shenzhen. in the first four years of its establishment, game science achieved initial technical and capital accumulation through two mobile games, "hundred generals" and "art of war: red tide", which received good market response.

however, when the company decided to get involved in stand-alone game production in 2018, shenzhen began to seem less suitable.

in the chinese game market dominated by mobile games, considering the overall cycle and cost of stand-alone projects, making stand-alone games is not an option with high economic returns. even if the most optimistic forecast is that "black myth: wukong", which is priced at 268 yuan, can eventually achieve sales of 20 million copies, the total revenue of this 3a game masterpiece that took 7 years to develop is only 5.36 billion yuan.

the relatively limited economic returns mean that the salaries offered by game science are not too high. according to fast technology, after investigating the public recruitment information platform, it was found that the average monthly income of game science employees was about 24,300 yuan, which is slightly lower than the average of 25,600 yuan in the same industry, and cannot be compared with the super high returns offered by other mobile game giants.

however, making a high-quality stand-alone game requires extremely high capabilities of the r&d personnel. high-quality, immersive stand-alone action-adventure masterpieces are like the jewel in the crown of the game industry, and require a complete set of technologies and industrialized processes.

"stand-alone games are not like mobile games that can be released in one or two years. they need a place that is not so troubled by material things. the people who make them also need to not care too much about the prosperity around them." in an interview with southern people weekly, feng ji, founder of game science and producer of "black myth: wukong", explained why the company chose hangzhou. they hope to use this to screen out a group of people who can endure loneliness and do not have such high material demands.

on a weekday afternoon in august, the xiangshan art commune park was deserted. photo by times finance

perhaps it was this choice that set a more down-to-earth and steady tone for the black myth: wukong team, allowing this team of more than 100 people to overcome difficulties and obstacles and reach a destination that no one had reached before. even after the final game was a success and the entire network started a carnival, this tone did not change.

after the game was launched, the founding team of game science still rarely spoke out. except for sharing their feelings when the sales exceeded 10 million, and accepting interviews from a few media such as xinhua news agency and southern people weekly before the launch, it was difficult for the outside world to see feng ji and other main creators show up.

there may also be a sense of risk avoidance. when black myth: wukong began to be linked to larger issues such as national pride and the rise of chinese games, the complexity behind it was beyond the scope of what this team of more than 100 people could handle.

but the creative team is still introspecting. before the game was launched, feng ji told southern people weekly: when you are at the peak of confidence, you are also at the abyss of ignorance. this may also be the most dangerous time for you, or the time when you least understand your true state.

"i told all my colleagues at the annual meeting last year that if i had only one sentence to give you, i would choose fitzgerald's sentence: the measure of first-class intelligence is the ability to hold two opposing ideas in the mind and still function normally," feng ji pointed out.