- China’s internet isn’t happy that “Wukong Sun: Black Legend” is due for release on Nintendo’s store.
- It’s a 2D platformer game with art and a title that resembles “Black Myth: Wukong.”
- Immensely popular in China, the game has an ardent player base that is fiercely defending the title.
“Black Myth: Wukong,” the high-profile video game that earned superstar status in China, has a new titular competitor on the market: a side-scrolling platformer in which the Monkey King bashes through monsters of ancient legend.
“Wukong Sun: Black Legend,” published by Global Game Studio, is now listed for preorder on Nintendo’s store for its Switch console — much to the chagrin of China’s social media.
Posts deriding the Nintendo-listed game as a knock-off emerged on Monday morning and, within an hour, topped discussion rankings on Weibo, China’s version of X, per data seen by Business Insider.
“Hey everyone, have you heard? The stunning ‘Black Myth: Wukong’ has actually been copied! This really makes you speechless,” one user wrote.
“Since Nintendo has removed pirated games from its shelves, this should also be removed,” wrote another.
Promotional art for the Nintendo-listed game, which is due for release on December 26 and retails at $7.99, bears a striking resemblance to that of “Black Myth: Wukong.”
Screenshot/Nintendo Store and CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images
But the new title’s gameplay looks nothing like that of “Black Myth: Wukong,” a 3D action game with spruced-up visuals and a famed boss system that’s difficult to overcome.
“Wukong Sun: Black Legend” appears to feature 2D sprites that approach from the right of the screen as the player navigates from the left.
“Black Myth: Wukong,” produced by Chinese developer Game Science, is based on characters from the 1592 novel “Journey to the West,” one of the most famous literary works in the region and a cornerstone of Chinese popular culture and mythology.
The term “Black Myth” in the game’s title refers to it telling a story that is not included in the original novel, which has served as the base for a hit 1986 TV show and a plethora of books, games, and other media.
On its Nintendo store page, “Wukong Sun: Black Legend” also references the novel, saying it would allow players to “embark on an epic Journey to the West” and battle characters from its mythology.
Weibo users aren’t having any of it.
“Well-known games have been plagued by imitations for a long time,” wrote Pear Video, a popular internet news account. “Malicious developers exploit the names of well-known games, reskin various small games, and put them on the shelves of big game stores with similar titles, deceiving uninformed consumers to buy and download.”
“I wonder how Nintendo will deal with it,” a popular millennial gaming blogger wrote.
Nintendo operates a marketplace that allows developers to publish games for Nintendo consoles. The company did not respond to a request for comment sent outside regular business hours by BI.
Global Game Studio is listed as both the developer and publisher of “Wukong Sun: Black Legend.” According to Nintendo’s website the developer has also produced a soccer game, an extreme sports biking game, a “Farming Harvester Simulator,” and a zombie shooter.
The studio did not respond to a request for comment in an email sent by BI.
“Black Myth: Wukong” is considered China’s first homegrown AAA video game success, selling over 20 million copies on the marketplace Steam, per the data tracker Video Game Insights. The game retails at about $59.99 per copy, putting total sales north of $1 billion.
VCG/VCG via Getty Images
Its release dominated China’s internet this summer and has garnered an ardent cult following. Earlier this month, the title’s failure to clinch the coveted “Game of the Year” award from The Games Awards sparked a wave of dissatisfaction on Chinese social media.
