Black Myth: Wukong already Steam's most played single-player game of all time

UPDATE 2pm UK: Between first publishing this story a few of hours ago and now, Black Myth: Wukong's player numbers have continued to climb.

Now, over two million players have taken to Steam to give the game a whirl. Its concurrent player peak as it stands is currently 2,125,077.

As a result, Black Myth: Wukong is now the second most played game of all time in terms of concurrent player numbers on Steam, having bopped both Counter-Strike 2 and Palworld down a place.

The original story continues below.

ORIGINAL 10.30am UK: Black Myth: Wukong - Game Science's action RPG rooted in Chinese mythology - has had an impressive debut on Steam, surpassing record concurrent player numbers for the likes of Elden Ring, Hogwarts Legacy, Cyberpunk 2077 and Dota 2. In just a few short hours, it has already become the most played single-player title of all time on Steam.

At the time of writing, Black Myth: Wukong is currently the fourth most played game of all time on Valve's platform, with only Counter-Strike 2, Palworld and PUBG: Battlegrounds ahead of it in terms of peak concurrent players.

Black Myth: Wukong - Pre-Orders Now Available | August 20, 2024 - Confront Destiny

Since its release, the game has recorded a concurrent player peak of 1,443,570. By comparison, Cyberpunk 2077's all-time concurrent player peak is sitting at 1,054,388. Elden Ring's concurrent all-time peak, meanwhile, is 953,426.

As for how China-specific interest in Black Myth: Wukong is, GameDiscoverCo founder Simon Carless notes very. In a post on social media platform X, Carless shared a chart revealing an estimated 88 percent of the game's players on Steam are from China.

Black Myth: Wukong has not been without controversy, though. Prior to its release, posts from Game Science CEO Féng Jì including sexualised and misogynistic language were reported. More recently, IGN also reported further on the studio's history with sexism.

Then, just this weekend, images of a leaked document sent to influencers surfaced online, requesting they do not include "politics", "feminist propaganda", or references to Covid-19 in their Black Myth: Wukong coverage.

We recently awarded Black Myth: Wukong three out of five stars.

"Its dramatic and spectacular boss fights just about keep Black Myth: Wukong afloat, but behind all its glitz and glamour is a frustratingly hollow and rudderless action game," reads Eurogamer's Black Myth: Wukong review.