Black Myth: Wukong hits 2.1 million players on Steam, surpassing Counter Strike 2 and Palworld records

Black Myth: Wukong broke Steam records after hitting 2.1 million players hours after launch. The game’s player count surpassed popular Steam games Counter-Strike 2 and Palworld and is now trailing behind PUBG as the second most played Steam game of all time.

The single-player action RPG Black Myth: Wukong shocked gamers by breaking Steam records. Shortly after launch, the game recorded 2.1 million concurrent players, making it the second most played Steam game behind PUBG. 

The player count recorded by Black Myth: Wukong easily surpassed the most played games on an elite Steam list. Immediately after launch, Black Myth easily overtook Elden Ring at 953,000 players, Hogwarts Legacy at 879,000 players, and Cyberpunk 2077 at 1.054 million players. 

Black Myth: Wukong outperforms Counter-Strike 2 and Palworld

The game rose to the top of the list by kicking out Counter-Strike 2, which recorded 1.8 million players, and Palworld, which recorded 2.1 million players. PUBG currently leads the pack with 3.26 million players (at least for now). PUBG and Palworld broke Steam’s records in January 2018 and January 2024, respectively, but Black Myth numbers are still rising.

Black Myth also ranks as the most-wishlisted game on Steam. According to GameDiscovereco data, anticipating gamers added the game to their wishlist more than four million times on the Valve platform. In the week from June 7th to 13th, when the trailer was released, the game received 854,000 wishlists on Steam. 

The game’s wishlists surpassed all other games featured at the Summer Game Fest 2024, PC Gaming Show 2024, Xbox Games Showcase 2024, and other gaming events held in early June.

The Chinese market embraces Black Myth post-launch

The rise in popularity of the Black Myth is credited to various factors. The most apparent reason is the game’s influence on the Chinese market. The Chinese gaming industry is home to over 730 million gamers, who command a market share of 47% in global mobile game revenue and 39% in global PC game revenue, according to research by Niko Partners . 

Notably, the game recorded a surging player count before noon Chinese time, when most of the world was still in darkness and asleep.

Black Myth: Wukong was released on August 20 on PlayStation 5, Steam, the Epic Games Store, and WeGame. The action role-playing game was developed by a Chinese video game development and publishing company called Game Science. 

The game is based on an old Chinese novel called “Journey to the West,” which was written a long time ago. The game has historical relevance and close ties to ancient Chinese culture, which could potentially explain how the Chinese market reacted to the game’s official release. Gamers play the Wukong Monkey King character, exploring different environments and fighting titanic monsters.