Upon its release, Black Myth: Wukong immediately became a favorite game in Asia. In addition to winning the hearts of gamers, this action role-playing game also unexpectedly created a tourism craze in several cities and provinces in China.
According to the South Morning China Post , after the game was officially launched on August 20, online travel platform Trip.com recorded a 10% increase in keywords related to Shanxi, and a 20% increase in keywords related to Datong City and Shuozhou. In addition, the number of ticket bookings to visit the scenic area of Xiaoxitian Temple increased by 236% compared to the same period last year, an increase of nearly 3 times.
Data from online travel platform Tuniu shows that the number of tourists visiting Son Tay in August increased by 50% compared to July. As a result, the number of hotel bookings also doubled.
Of the 36 scenarios designed in the game, 27 are real locations located in Shanxi - one of the provinces in northern China, 500km from Beijing. In particular, the three most searched locations here are Yungang Grottoes, Yingxian Wooden Pagoda and Stork Tower.
With the influence of this game, local authorities quickly launched a promotional campaign "Travel with Wukong in Shanxi", giving tourists the opportunity to visit real locations in the game.
The management board of the Xiaoxitian relic site also announced plans to sell tickets on online platforms and put game-related content on the official website promoting the temple, a Buddhist temple that dates back to the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).
In addition to Son Tay, real-life locations appearing in the game that attract a lot of attention from tourists are Zhejiang, Shandong... Most of these are spiritual tourist areas, ancient temples and pagodas, associated with many legends related to the journey to get the scriptures of Tang Tang and his disciples.
Black Myth: Wukong is an action role-playing game based on the classic novel Journey to the West by Wu Cheng'en. Players will have the opportunity to transform into a normal monkey, overcome missions, fight enemies, and search for the Six Roots to revive the Great Sage Equaling Heaven.
The game was first announced by GameScience studio in 2020 and was scheduled to be released in 2023 but was delayed until the second half of 2024.
