The Destined One, known as Wukong, standing in front of the Tarnished holding a sword. Black Myth: Wukong quickly became one of the most popular games of the year, and that is further proven by 20 million sales within the past 30 days. Based on Chinese mythology, the game combines an original premise steeped in culture with challenging yet rewarding combat. Though the game’s release was marred by a few bugs, that didn’t stop it from making some record-breaking sales.

Within its first month, the action RPG sold 20 million units – with half of those coming within its first three days after launch, per Insider Gaming. This makes it one of the fastest-selling games to date, even outselling the 2022 Game of the Year Elden Ring in its release month. For comparison, a report from Men’s Journal notes that Elden Ring sold 13.4 million units in its first month – and while that’s still an impressive number, it still comes in significantly lower than that of Black Myth: Wukong.

What This Means For Black Myth: Wukong

Fastest-Selling Doesn’t Necessarily Mean Award-Winning

A closeup of Wukong in Black Myth: Wukong. Black Myth Wukong Gameplay Footage of a 4K Monster. Sun Wukong fighting enemies with his staff in Black Myth: Wukong. The Abandoned Guanyin Monastery from Black Myth Wukong. Sun Wukong standing with his staff watching three giants approach him in Black Myth: Wukong. A closeup of Wukong in Black Myth: Wukong. Black Myth Wukong Gameplay Footage of a 4K Monster. Sun Wukong fighting enemies with his staff in Black Myth: Wukong. The Abandoned Guanyin Monastery from Black Myth Wukong. Sun Wukong standing with his staff watching three giants approach him in Black Myth: Wukong.

Though Black Myth: Wukong may have come close to outselling Elden Ring within days of its release, that doesn’t necessarily mean that players should expect to see the title take home prizes come this awards season. Let’s take Hogwarts Legacy for example, as the open-world game set in the fictional wizarding world long before the events of the Harry Potter franchise sold similar numbers, according to Statistica. When it came to award season, though, it only managed to take home four of the 13 awards it was nominated for.

Black Myth: Wukong was also plagued by some pretty serious bugs at launch, with many reviews noting that the game would glitch out just before a big victory was scored, or audio cutting during an important cutscene. Though the game has since made significant headway from its underwhelming launch, it was a serious setback for the developer.

Our Take On Black Myth: Wukong’s Rapid Sales

A Big Game Of 2024

The Destined One with his head turned to the side in Black Myth: Wukong.Custom Image by Ben Brosofsky

Praised for its overtly challenging gameplay, storyline, and stunning graphics, one of the few complaints levied against the release was its performance at launch, which wasn’t enough to dampen fans’ excitement for the game – or its sales numbers. Even though anticipation for its launch was high, besting FromSoftware’s Elden Ring‘s month-one sales is an impressive feat, perhaps helped by Black Myth: Wukong being less punishing than a typical Souls game.

The team has since made some serious strides in resolving performance issues on both console and PC, with the experience much improved through the efforts. As such Black Myth: Wukong is better than ever, and is still continuing to impress its millions of players.