Game Science: The Seven Friends Behind Black Myth: Wukong, and What Comes Next

For years, the question in China's games business was simple: could a Chinese studio make a big, premium action game that the whole world would buy? On August 20, 2024, a studio called Game Science answered it.

Black Myth: Wukong sold a reported 10 million copies in three days and more than 20 million in its first month. By its first anniversary it had passed 30 million, according to reports. It was the moment Chinese console-style games arrived on the world stage, and it changed how the industry looks at the country.

Seven friends from Tencent

Game Science was founded on June 13, 2014, by Feng Ji and Yang Qi. Feng Ji is the studio's chief executive and the creative lead on Black Myth; Yang Qi leads the art. The studio's seven founders had worked together at Tencent on an online action game called Asura, and left to make their own games.

The studio is headquartered in Shenzhen and also has an office in Hangzhou, where the Black Myth team moved to work.

Like many Chinese studios of that era, Game Science started on phones. Its first games were the mobile titles 100 Heroes (2015), published by NetEase, and Art of War: Red Tides (2016). They kept the lights on while the founders planned something much bigger.

Investors came and went

In 2017, the gaming company Hero Games bought a 19% stake in the studio, and it sold that stake in 2022. Tencent took a 5% stake, reported in 2021. The founders kept control, which let them spend years on a single expensive game without chasing quick mobile hits.

The trailer that was really a job advert

In August 2020, Game Science released a long gameplay video of Black Myth: Wukong. It went viral around the world. But its first goal was more practical: it was a recruitment video. At the time, the Black Myth team had only about 30 people, and the studio needed many more to finish the game.

It worked. By release, the team had grown to about 140 people, according to the game's credits. That is still small for a game of its size and polish.

What Wukong did to China's market

Black Myth: Wukong is based on Journey to the West, the classic Chinese novel about the Monkey King. Players control "the Destined One", a monkey warrior, in a demanding action game with huge boss fights.

Its sales were large enough to show up in national statistics. A Chinese Communist Youth League report cited sales of about 30 million, with about half of them in China. The game caused a jump in China's console game revenue in 2024. As we explained in our China market report, that comparison now makes console sales look weaker: console revenue in the first half of 2026 fell about 7% from a year earlier.

Starting again: Black Myth: Zhong Kui

At gamescom 2025, Game Science showed a teaser for its next game: Black Myth: Zhong Kui. Zhong Kui is a figure from Chinese folklore, a ghost-hunter and demon-queller.

Rather than simply making "Wukong 2", Feng Ji described the approach plainly: "We'll take bold risks, break conventions, and start from scratch."

He was also honest that it is early. At the time of the reveal, the game was only months into development, with no playable build yet, and Feng Ji said the outline was not even finished. Release could be several years away.

Why Game Science matters

Game Science proved there was a global audience for big Chinese action games, and it pushed many Chinese companies to invest in PC and console games, not just mobile. Several other Chinese studios now have big premium games in development, and Wukong is the model they are all measured against.

WGC's take: Game Science's biggest strength is that its founders kept control and took their time. The risk for Zhong Kui is expectation. The first Black Myth surprised everyone; the second will be judged against a hit that sold tens of millions.

What to watch

• New footage of Black Myth: Zhong Kui and any sign of a release window.
• Whether the studio, still small, grows its team for the new project.
• Other Chinese premium action games aiming to follow Wukong's path, which we track in our China market report.