Is "Black Myth: Wukong" Worth 268 Yuan?

The suspense is finally revealed. On the evening of May 19, the much-discussed "Black Myth: Wukong" brought explosive news. At the Tencent WeGame Game Night in 2024, Game Science, the developer, released a new trailer and officially announced the price of the Simplified Chinese PC standard edition to be 268 yuan. A grinning monkey made a scissor-hand gesture, and the mysterious pricing number was then revealed, followed by a flood of live comments like a tidal wave, completely submerging the screen.

Indeed, ever since the announcement of "Black Myth: Wukong," its pricing has been a focal point of public attention and even the center of heated discussion. Conversations about the price always grow hotter, spreading from gaming to other industries—for example, when Xiaomi's cars were first released, there was much public debate about their prices. Since Game Science released its first promotional video years ago, players have been discussing the potential price of "Black Myth: Wukong", showing concerns or full of anticipation. To date, the question "What price do you think is acceptable for 'Black Myth: Wukong'?" has garnered over 7,000 answers on Zhihu, with significantly higher engagement than other related issues.

So, why are we so concerned about the pricing of "Black Myth: Wukong"? Is the 268 yuan price tag expensive or reasonable? What kind of signal does Game Science's answer send to the domestic gaming industry?

Video games are both works of art and commodities. A simple price tag carries not only the expectations of players, it also directly relates to the game's reputation, sales, and the financial returns of the enterprise. For a pay-to-own single-player game like "Black Myth: Wukong," pricing is more immediate and sensitive compared to F2P (free-to-play) games. In contrast, under a "free to play, pay for in-game purchases" business model, player communities can choose to spend based on their financial ability, from non-spenders to big investors, everyone has their place.

However, with pay-to-own games having a set entry price, the decision to buy must be made from the start: you either pay or give up, leaving not much choice for those unwilling to spend money. This tangible financial difference makes players especially sensitive to the price. For manufacturers, finding a balance between player expectations and their own interests poses a significant challenge.

Furthermore, domestic single-player games face another challenge in terms of pricing: the "low-price shackles" that the industry and players assume by default. In January 2024, the third-party data statistics team "Guoyou Sales Bar" released the "2023 National Game Sales Annual Chart". The report shows that, of the 525 pay-to-own domestic games on Steam platform with more than 10 user reviews, a whopping 95.05% are priced below 70 yuan, and 99.24% are not more than 100 yuan. It is evident, the average price of these statistics is 32 yuan, and the median price is 28 yuan.

On the 2023 sales leaderboard of newly released Chinese domestic flat-rate games, not one of the top 20 games is priced over 100 yuan, and half of them are even priced below 50 yuan. This situation has persisted in the domestic flat-rate game market for many years. Against the backdrop of generally low prices, even major game projects often do not dare to set a high price lightly.

Take the famous Chinese game "Gu Jian Qi Tan 3" released in 2018 as an example. Its performance on the Steam platform has been remarkable, to date it has received an 85% positive rate, and it has been hailed by many players as the pinnacle of domestic single-player games. However, despite having a successful series IP and the support of a renowned team, and notwithstanding its considerable production costs, in the market context of 2018, it still did not dare to break the 100 yuan price ceiling and was ultimately priced at 99 yuan.

Compared with the international blockbusters of the same period, "Gu Jian Qi Tan 3" might not match top-tier AAA games, but in terms of content and player feedback, its quality is not significantly different from that of mainstream works priced at 60 US dollars. At the very least, its pricing should not just be 99 yuan—a price almost equivalent to that of overseas indie games.

However, when we look back at the situation on the eve of the release of "Gu Jian Qi Tan 3," many players' discussions were not about how much money the game would make, but how to break even. Lower commercial returns also signal potential liquidity issues for the team in the future.

By 2024, almost three years after "Gu Jian Qi Tan 4" was announced, Tencent acquired a stake in the developer NetEase Saint-Tang, with a shareholding as high as 87.36%. The root issue is not whether "Gu Jian Qi Tan 3" could be profitable, but that such concerns shouldn't exist in the first place—if even a benchmark product like the one in the example is worried about losses, how could other developers have the courage to venture into such a fragile market?

To this day, the Chinese domestic flat-rate game market still maintains its past state, with few games daring to break the convention of two-digit pricing, let alone set higher standards. When the mainland single-player game industry begins to accept the narrative of "thin margins, high volume," it seems we have entered a dilemma, a vicious cycle that cannot be broken.

For the development of AAA games, raising prices might be the first step. Seeing through the low-price atmosphere that envelops the market, it is not hard to find its historical reasons. Steam, the world's largest PC game distribution platform, has adopted the Renminbi as its transaction currency since November 4, 2015, and has updated payment methods suitable for the Chinese market, which means its consistent regional pricing strategy continues to this day, making China synonymous with low-priced games.

Steam's implementation of a price reduction strategy has successfully introduced a large number of foreign games to the market at prices more in line with the psychology of Chinese consumers. This strategy has significantly advanced the legalization of the Chinese game market and cultivated a group of loyal core players, whose contributions have been significant and should not be overlooked. However, this approach has also had a double-edged sword effect.

The existence of a low-price zone benefits a broad range of players while also creating a phenomenon akin to "dumping" within the gaming industry. Even though the original intent may not have been unfair competition, in reality, it has created an insurmountable barrier for domestic game developers. In the past decade, foreign AAA titles have entered the Chinese market with lower prices, quickly seizing player attention and market share. Many games have introduced highly attractive discounts, for instance, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt dipped to tens of yuan, creating an unbelievably low pricing benchmark for players.

While players might be ecstatic about the "lowest prices in history," such pricing has become a nightmarish presence for local game manufacturers. Whenever a new domestic single-player game is released, it almost always faces pricing comparisons and skepticism benchmarked against The Witcher 3. The crux of the issue is: if we always lock the pricing of domestic games in the low-end, then the dream of China having its own autonomous AAA titles will be hard to achieve.

In reality, this situation is not just about price, but also involves the timing and the different stages of development. The ability of foreign AAA titles to be sold at a reduced price is based on the substantial profits already made from their high initial prices at launch. Taking The Witcher 3 as an example, it was priced at $59.99 in the US at launch, or $53.99 including pre-order discounts. For these games, the current price reduction is merely a long-tail strategy to expand into new markets and win additional profits; their revenue is already stable, and now it's all part of expanding their influence.

On the other hand, for globally renowned game manufacturers, low-price regions including China essentially are not their main markets for survival, but just an area for additional income. Therefore, they can swap lower prices for higher sales volumes, which doesn't significantly affect their overall income. In contrast, Chinese game developers, who often place all their sales hopes almost entirely on the domestic market, have few options to fall back on, and this difference in mindset and situation means they cannot employ the same pricing strategies.

Therefore, using foreign classic works with millions of sales to mock those domestic single-player newcomers striving to survive and explore development opportunities is essentially a misaligned form of unfair competition. Such outcomes lead to a chronic absence of high-quality domestic single-player games. Faced with pricing pressure, Chinese game companies often have to continually weigh costs and profit margins to ensure minimal loss in cases of failure.

This results in them having fewer project types they can collaborate on and a more limited range of products they can create, often resulting in only independent games occupying the sales charts. National indie games indeed have novelty and unique craftsmanship, but if that's all there is, it's obviously a concern. High-spec games represent massive investment, strong teams, and long development cycles, and are thus destined to require higher prices and stronger profitability.

For many game enthusiasts, the price of a game often becomes the focal point of intense discussion. In the domestic market, a game called "Black Myth: Wukong" is priced at 268 yuan, a figure that seems startling at first glance. However, compared to the domestic single-purchase game market, this is not only breaking through the psychological price ceiling of a hundred yuan but can even be described as a leap. Traditionally, the same amount could buy several top domestic single-purchase games, and the pricing decision of "Black Myth: Wukong" undoubtedly displays its confidence and ambition.

Globally, this pricing is not uncommon. Looking at world-renowned action games on the Steam platform, such as "Dark Souls III" and "Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice," they are priced the same as "Black Myth: Wukong" at 268 yuan. In comparison, considering the common international market standard of 60 US dollars, "Black Myth: Wukong" opts for a more moderate and stable pricing range.

From an investment perspective, the cost recovery of a game is always an important topic. According to Feng Ji, the founder of Game Science, the hourly experience development cost of "Black Myth: Wukong" is estimated to be between 15 to 20 million yuan, with an overall investment that might reach 300 to 400 million yuan. Taking into account marketing and about a 30% commission from the main sales channels, sales would need to surpass 2 million copies for the game to break even. Of course, this estimate is just a rough prediction based on market prospects.

The significance of "Black Myth: Wukong" to China's 3A game market goes far beyond mere commercial profits. This game may pave a new path, proving the viability of a high-investment, high-return single-player game development model in the country. To achieve this, "Black Myth: Wukong" must approach or even match international standards in quality and price, becoming a truly international 3A blockbuster.

As the game's release approaches, there has already been heated discussion about "Black Myth: Wukong" online. After the release of the video trailer, its views on Bilibili rapidly exceeded the 4 million mark, and the number of comments related to the pricing continues to grow. Clearly, many players are enthusiastic about the price tag of "268," as they stimulate each other with comparisons, analyses, and predictions, their anticipation overflowing in their expressions. Finally, after years of careful preparation, this highly anticipated game is set to officially meet global players in three months.

The grand expectations carry an unspeakable uncertainty, but this may well be the most confident adventure that Chinese players have taken.

At the end of the WeGame promotional video, the golden hoop wand transforms into countless brilliant sand grains, converging to form the words "Wukong." This is not just a depiction of a scene but a symbol of a new beginning. It signifies the dissolution of old prejudices and constraints on domestic single-player games and heralds a refreshing breeze set to sweep through the entire gaming industry.

The prejudices and constraints long shrouding domestic single-player games seem to be at the moment of variation, ready to be swept away by a fresh breeze.