Chinese blockbuster video game Black Myth: Wukong sold greater than 10 million copies just days after its release last month, and its success was hailed as a soft power victory for the Asian superpower.
However, a Chinese saying goes: “The drunkard’s intention shouldn’t be for wine, but for other purposes.”
China's push into the gaming industry also serves a “harder” type of power: an effort to spice up domestic chip production after the U.S. imposed export restrictions on semiconductors designed to hamper Chinese AI research.
Blockbuster gaming with Chinese influences
Set on this planet of the Ming Dynasty novel Journey to the West, Black Myth: Wukong lets players control Wukong, the Monkey King, on a journey stuffed with battles and mysteries inspired by ancient Chinese mythology.
The massive, high-budget game is the primary Chinese production of its scale to realize such global success. Developed and published by Game Science, a studio backed by tech giant Tencent, Black Myth: Wukong shows how popular culture can follow the propaganda imperative, “Telling China’s story well“.
As I even have already commented elsewheredespite Criticism in Western media The game is a successful cultural export and a vehicle of Chinese cultural soft power.
It's a source of national pride for Chinese gamers who’re uninterested in playing games with foreign settings, as a preferred post shows in circulation on Chinese social media platforms:
You rode into Damascus
Shooting duel in a small town within the American West
Also worked as an assassin in Egypt
Now
Finally you may return to your hometown
Be your personal hero
Or in English (my translation):
You once rode a horse in Damascus,
Duel with weapons in a small town within the American West,
Also served as an assassin in Egypt.
Now
Finally you may return home
And be your personal hero
The Chinese gaming industry is rising
The Chinese government's support of gambling is nothing latest. 2019The Beijing municipal government has issued guidelines aimed toward establishing town because the “international capital of online games” and using games as a medium to speak compelling Chinese stories.
The “Go Global” strategy for gaming has been complemented by more comprehensive policies in 2021, 2022 And 2023whose aim is to advertise the event and international dissemination of high-quality games which can be according to Chinese culture and values.
While the industry has had previous success with mobile games, Black Myth: Wukong is designed for the costlier and prestigious console and PC gaming markets (which also require more advanced software and hardware). The game's success has led to extra money being poured into the Chinese gaming industry to Developing large-scale projects.
China is the world’s largest single marketplace for games, but domestic restrictions Censorship, limits on children's play time, and controls on spending and gambling in games have limited the revenue of Chinese game developers. In response, they wish to global markets.
Blockbuster game development generally is a winner-takes-all business, and the high cost of development signifies that resources are likely to be concentrated at the highest firms, so there should still be an extended technique to go for China to emerge as a real leader in the worldwide games market.
A key hurdle lies in hardware, particularly the provision of sophisticated chips – and the technological capabilities required to develop and produce them. This is the crucial linchpin for digital China's global dominance.
High-performance gaming hardware
Chinese politicians, technology firms, members of the gaming industry and gamers are well aware of the hardware shortages resulting from the US-China technology war. Over the past two years, the US restrictions to export sophisticated chips to China.
While the restrictions relate to chips that may be used for AI, the identical hardware can be needed for high-end games like Black Myth: Wukong.
The game is promoted by American chipmaker NVIDIA, which is the market leader in graphics processing units (GPUs) needed for cutting-edge graphics and machine learning. NVIDIA boasts that it helped Improve the graphics and technology of Black Myth: Wukong at the very best level.
To experience the sport's graphics of their full glory, a player will need an NVIDIA GPU just like the RTX 4090, which costs over $3,000 Australian dollars. Players may even must equip their PCs with various AI-powered “upscaling” technologies like NVIDIA's DLSS or alternatives from rival chipmakers AMD and Intel.
Currently, the most effective GPUs and upscaling technologies are all made by American firms, leaving Chinese game developers and gamers with no options within the domestic market.
China has significant investments in its domestic chipmaking capabilities. However, it shouldn’t be yet competitive in the case of the advanced chips needed for cutting-edge gaming and in addition useful for AI and military applications.
China also has Chip manufacturers within the crosshairs within the Netherlands and South Korea, according to its comprehensive national security Strategy.
Serious games
The semiconductor microchip, computer gaming and national security sectors are closely interrelated. Promoting the gaming industry will drive demand for advanced chips – which in turn will create a marketplace for improved manufacturing capabilities. Industry-driven bottom-up initiatives can be carried out in parallel with government-led top-down investments.
It is not any wonder that Chinese state media and associated social media influencers Promoting the sport. It's about greater than promoting the gaming industry or telling Chinese stories well (and thus encouraging Western gamers to learn more about Chinese culture and Chinese gamers to be pleased with their very own culture).
The game is an element of China's strategic move to win the chip war by following Mao's doctrine of “encircling the cities from the countryside.” The short-term give attention to the “countryside” of video games serves the long-term goal of taking up the “cities” of advanced chip manufacturing.
