SUNSHINE COAST, Australia: If asked to name the biggest video game company in the world, you might think of icons such as Nintendo - the famed creator of Mario, Pokemon and The Legend Of Zelda - or maybe PlayStation, the brand associated with mega hits such as Final Fantasy and Uncharted.
But Chinese company Tencent may be on its way to outstripping these competitors, with various market research companies listing it as one of the top three video game producers worldwide by revenue.
Currently, one game made by Tencent-backed start-up Game Science is topping the charts on Steam, the world’s largest digital PC gaming store.
Released on Tuesday (Aug 20), Black Myth: Wukong has already achieved a concurrent player count of more than 2.2 million players. And that’s before counting the gamers buying and playing it on PlayStation 5 consoles or computers.
The action role-playing game is also China’s first AAA game (an industry term for “blockbuster” releases). Even more remarkably, its developer Game Science doesn’t have experience crafting blockbusters and has mostly focused on mobile games.
Back in 2020, Game Science’s very first trailer for Black Myth: Wukong was reportedly aimed at attracting new employees rather than players. Developing a premium console game has been considered commercially risky in China’s gaming market, which is saturated with free-to-play mobile and online games.
So why take the risk?sabong live
The Tencent Games logo is seen on its game on a mobile phone in this illustration picture taken Mar 19, 2024. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang/Illustration/File Photo