Cumulating 2.1 million concurrent players and ranking a historical second place on “Most Popular Steam Games” on the day of its release, China’s first triple-A combat-action game, Black Myth Wukong, was an unprecedented success.
Video games are often regarded as the “ninth art form,” interacting with players in various ways to allow for a personalized artistic experience. Hengbo Mao’s analysis of Black Myth’s cross-cultural communication factors corroborates the potential of games to cross-cultural barriers in an “undoubtedly most acceptable, subtle, and pleasant way.”
This is why “players all over the world [are playing] a game that has a Chinese cultural factor,” says Haiqing Yu at RMIT University, specializing in the “sociopolitical and economic impact of China’s digital media,” in an interview with the BBC. “It’s a form of national pride,” he adds.
Sun Wukong from classical literature to the modern screen
Based on 16th-century Chinese literature “Journey to the West,” the game’s protagonist Sun Wukong has been adapted into films, comics, anime, and games throughout the decades in China.
From the rebellious and playful Wukong in the 1961 animated film “Havoc in Heaven,” to Liu Xiao Ling Tong’s 1986 portrayal of the “loyal Wukong” in TV series “Journey to the West,” to the heroic Wukong in modern animation film “Monkey King: Hero Is Back” (2015), Wukong’s sophisticated qualities blended with the boundlessness of religious pursuits, creating a lasting impression amongst generations of audiences.
Beyond China, Japanese anime series like “Enslaved: Odyssey to the West” and “Dragon Ball,” all derived from “Journey to the West.” Admittedly, Wukong’s portrayals essentially echo the “diversity of interpretations of the heroic image through time.”
Cultural dissemination through technology
Now, as global advancements in technology enhance convenience in communication, Sun Wukong is reaching more readers and players alike through the new medium of video games. Already, videos on Douyin, the Chinese version of Byte Dance’s TikTok, have seen an increased surge of tourists “flooding temples and shrines featured in the game in what users call a successful example of cultural rediscovery.”
How has technology bridged cultural communication beyond the peripheries of geographical borders? Uniquely, Black Myth’s creators have cleverly transformed China’s most historical heritages into realistic digital gaming models through 3D scanning technology.
Recreating 36 different cultural destinations across various provinces in China, 3D scanning allowed for highly efficient data acquisition, precision, and sensory details with a low risk of damage to cultural relics. Hence, both visually and figuratively presenting Chinese culture as a visually stunning experience.
“Wow, these things are beautiful. Are they real? Can I go to China to visit them?” Such awe-inspiring exclamations are representative of the comments of many Western players.
In turn, such technologies have also aided the game’s inventive storylines. “Sometimes, it is only after seeing such scenes in person that we are inspired with creative ideas,” says Ji Feng, a co-producer of the game.
Highlights how the intersection of technology and culture can result in groundbreaking achievements in the gaming industry.
A new era for Chinese soft power?
Black Myth has seemingly raised Chinese video games to be the “symbolic business card that compares with American Hollywood or Korean Wave” through the intersection of technology and business.
Scholarly analysis of the reason behind cultural identity hints the reason behind such overseas popularity. Notably, Black Myth’s alienation of audiences through ubiquitously deemed impressive audiovisual processes combined with the video game medium’s abilities to evoke personalized emotions, Wukong intuitively carries a sense of legitimacy, respect, and curiosity for its Chinese religious and cultural references.
Translation and controversy
English translations of the Mandarin language have always been an obstacle in allowing for a more in-depth overseas player experience. As Mao’s analysis suggests, while deliberate translations of classical Chinese words such as “thou” or “shalt” are found in context, the rigidness of English translations inevitably “results in the loss of ideological connotations.”
One Reddit user under the thread “I don’t think players outside of East Asia can fully understand all the layers of meaning in Black Myth: Wukong” reflects Mao’s idea. The depth of meaning behind Chinese characters is “something only countries that have historically used them can fully grasp.”
For instance, the meaning behind Chang’e turning into a spider derives from a homophone symbolizing the traditional family image of husband and wife in ancient feudal times. Hence, “Zhu Bajie’s rake symbolizes farming, and the wife as a spider symbolizes weaving.”
Additionally, close collaborators of Black Myth like co-publisher, Hero Games and Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post warned audiences of the game’s potential to spread topics related to propaganda, Covid-19, sexism, and more. While such concerns suggest the degressive potential of the game, detracting voices have yet to reduce the overwhelming success and immersive experience of the game.
Regardless of the various challenges facing the development of the Black Myth, such concerns are nothing more than a few fluttering insects over a magnificent field of flowers.
Written by Julia Jiang
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