Black Myth: Wukong is already annihilating Steam records

By Giovanni Colantonio Published August 20, 2024

A monkey swings a flaming sword in Black Myth: Wukong. — Game Science

Less than 24 hours after its release, Black Myth: Wukong is already making a massive impact on Steam. The action RPG isn’t just the top-played game on the platform — it also has the second-highest concurrent player count of all time.

Black Myth: Wukong is a new release from developer Game Science that turns the Chinese novel Journey to the West into a Dark Souls-adjacent action game. It’s a major moment for China, as its being touted as the country’s first “AAA” release. Its astonishing Steam player count puts the enormity of that moment into numbers.

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At the time of writing, Black Myth: Wukong has had 2,223,179 concurrent players at its peak on Steam, according to SteamDB. That’s enough to give it the second-highest peak of all time, narrowly beating out a record set by Palworld earlier this year. It only trails PUBG: Battlegrounds, which still holds a firm record of over 3 million players, a number that Black Myth: Wukong could potentially reach.

Those numbers are unheard of for a single-player action gam,e especially one that comes from an entirely new IP and studio. For context, Cyberpunk 2077 only hit just over 1 million concurrent players, while Elden Ring peaked just below that number.

While that may sound surprising at first, the numbers makes sense in context. The game is reportedly activating a large Chinese player base. According to data from GameDiscoverCo founder Simon Carless, over 88% of its current player base is in China. The U.S. is the second biggest piece of the pie with 3% of players residing there, per GameDiscoverCo’s most recent data.

Black Myth: Wukong is now available on PlayStation 5 and PC.

Giovanni Colantonio

Senior Gaming Editor

As Digital Trends' Senior Gaming Editor, Giovanni Colantonio oversees all things video games at Digital Trends. As a veteran…

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All transformations in Black Myth: Wukong, ranked

A creature with a flaming spear in Black Myth: Wukong.

One of the major mechanics that sets Black Myth: Wukong apart from other soulslikes or action RPGs is its transformation system. Heavily inspired by the source material, in which Sun Wukong is a master shape-shifter, the Destined One in this game is also able to take on many forms. Unlike that story, though, you only have a few transformations to pick from, but they are incredibly powerful. Not only do they give you new moves and abilities in a fight, but they also have their own health bar. That means a tactical transformation during a boss fight can be your golden ticket to success. Still, not all of your transformations are created equal. Based on our experience, we've ranked all possible transformations from worst to best.

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Where to use Skandha items in Black Myth: Wukong

black myth wukong buddhas eyeballs where to use guide skandha items

There are five Skandha items in Black Myth: Wukong. In fact, one of them can be obtained very early in the campaign, though the description itself seems rather confusing --you're simply told that it was once "hidden inside Buddha's head" and that "its secret is yet to be revealed." With such cryptic clues, you might be wondering just what their purpose is. But don't worry, we've got you all covered. Here's our guide on where to use all Skandha items in Black Myth: Wukong. Likewise, please be reminded that this article contains minor spoilers.
Where to use all Skandha items in Black Myth: Wukong
The Black Myth: Wukong Skandha items are scattered across various regions. You need four of them to unlock a particular encounter much later in the campaign, whereupon you'll receive the fifth item. After that, you'll hand over all the collectibles to a certain NPC to receive a nifty reward. In any case, our guide discusses where to find all of these items based on chapter progression, as well as the secret boss fight at the end.
Chapter 1: Skandha of Form

The first Skandha item in Black Myth: Wukong can be found very early in Chapter 1. Specifically, it's just across from the area where you fight the Bullguard. As you approach the clearing, you'll notice a mandrill monkey scampering away from a statue head. This is your clue for most of the campaign: If you approach a statue head and a monkey runs away, it means you can find a Skandha item nearby.
Chapter 2: Skandha of Feeling

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Where to use Buddha’s Eyeballs in Black Myth: Wukong

black myth wukong buddhas eyeballs where to use guide eyeball what do

There are a lot of mysteries to solve in Black Myth: Wukong. That's because some objectives are unclear, and you only have contextual clues to rely on. One of these side quests takes place in the game's second chapter, where you find yourself gathering a bunch of items whose purpose remains unknown. That brings us to our Black Myth: Wukong Buddha's Eyeballs guide, where we discuss where to find all of these items and where you can make use of them.
Where to use Buddha's Eyeballs in Black Myth: Wukong
There are six Buddha's Eyeballs in Black Myth: Wukong. All of them can be found in Chapter 2: Yellow Wind Ridge. Specifically, they're in the Fright Cliff area of this region. Here's how you can reach it:

From the first shrine in Sandgate Village: Village Entrance, make your way to the right and open the gate at the yard.
Defeat the Second Rat Prince boss. This lets you tag the nearby Valley of Despair shrine.
Instead of going down the tunnel near the shrine, head to the opposite side of the plateau and cross the bridge.
Continue all the way to the end of the path until you arrive at the Fright Cliff area. You should see the Squall Hideout shrine right in front of you.