How China’s first AAA game came to be
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Four years ago, when the first trailer for “Black Myth: Wukong” dropped, it took the Chinese gaming industry by storm. Gamers hailed it as China’s most promising attempt at creating an AAA game. Even people who don’t usually play video games knew the title.
Founded by Feng Ji and Yang Qi, Game Science, the game’s developer which had previously kept a low profile, quickly found itself in the spotlight.
How did this company, with only about 100 people, manage to create China’s first AAA game?
In 2008, Feng and Yang joined Tencent’s Quantum Studio, one of the tech giant’s eight game studios at the time. Starting in 2009, they led the development of the “Asura” project, with Feng as producer and Yang as art director.
Also based on the story of the legendary Monkey King Wukong, “Asura” was an ambitious project. Feng aimed to surpass “World of Warcraft” by creating an epic game rooted in Eastern culture.
At the time, Tencent was already making big money from games, but it still lacked a flagship product with a solid reputation. The management had high expectations for “Asura.”
The game initially made a big splash upon release, but problems arose during its operation. As an MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role-playing game), “Asura” required frequent content updates, which clashed with the team’s expertise in single-player games.
This led to inconsistent quality in subsequent updates, and user numbers began to decline.
The game, which wasn’t profit-driven, was supposed to boost Tencent’s reputation. But the downward trend put immense pressure on the project team.
In 2014 when Tencent restructured its studios, Quantum Studio merged with Light Speed Studio to form the Photon Studio Group. Feng and Yang chose to leave and start their own company.
After they left, “Asura” quickly transformed into a heavily monetized game with little innovation in gameplay. It eventually faded from players’ sight.
Feng and Yang later admitted that making money from games was important — at least you need to make money first before you can talk about ideals.
In a 300-square-meter office in Shenzhen’s Nanshan District, Game Science began its journey.
The team’s original goal was to create excellent single-player games. Yang, a gamer passionate about single-player experiences, believed that only this type of game could truly offer players an immersive experience.
But to pursue this dream, they needed to build up enough funds first, and developing mobile games was the most straightforward way to earn money at the time.
“Art of War: Red Tides” was Game Science’s first truly successful product. It was released in more than 150 countries on Apple’s App Store, complete with recommendations.
Game Science took advantage of the Chinese gaming industry’s shift toward mobile games, making significant income.
But they didn’t forget the company’s original mission: creating high-quality single-player games.
In 2018, Game Science assembled a team to work on a single-player project in Shenzhen. By the end of 2019, the team moved to Hangzhou.
The first major decision was choosing a theme.
Initially, the team considered fantasy, wuxia and other Chinese mythology themes. After much discussion, they realized they had the most ideas and enthusiasm for “Journey to the West,” so they decided to stick with that.
To prepare for the new game, many team members played well-known console titles like “Dark Souls 3” and “Sekiro.”
A bigger challenge came from the choice of engine technology. Game Science’s previous products were developed using Cocos and Unity engines, which suit small startups.
But since they aimed to create a game on par with AAA titles, which means a long development cycle, the Unreal Engine was the obvious choice. The entire team, including Feng and Yang, had to learn Unreal Engine from scratch.
Adapting to the new engine significantly increased the difficulty of the project. The team initially planned to complete the design for a monster every two weeks, but the progress was slower than expected.
They realized that hiring was imperative, and they needed to recruit the best talent to overcome these hurdles. This was one of the key reasons why they decided to release the first trailer for “Black Myth: Wukong” in August 2020 — to attract the skilled professionals they needed.
The trailer’s success was beyond anyone’s wildest dreams. The team had only hoped to earn some praise within the gaming community, but the response was overwhelming.
“Black Myth: Wukong” went viral in a single day, with its popularity sweeping across major social media and short-video platforms in China. The trailer received more than 10 million views on Bilibili alone (now surpassing 55 million), a level of attention typically reserved for blockbuster titles from established global developers.
Because Game Science hinted at their need for more staff in the trailer, their inbox was flooded with more than 100,000 resumes in just a couple of days.
A Game Science partner told Jiemian News that during those days, the office was inundated with jobseekers, investors, collaborators and interview requests from media outlets, to the point where it disrupted the team’s regular schedule.
Yang reminded the team not to get carried away by praise — relax when needed and avoid overworking in a frenzy of enthusiasm. “Black Myth” is the main title, which means there will be more games after Wukong. For the team, this is just the beginning.
On Tuesday, the highly anticipated game was released, creating a massive stir.
While its quality still needs to withstand the scrutiny of a broad player base, the game’s significance extends beyond that: It marks a bold foray by Chinese game developers into a market long dominated by Western AAA titles, signaling that players can now expect more Chinese-made AAA games.
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