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Black Myth: Wukong is already annihilating Steam records

A monkey swings a flaming sword in Black Myth: Wukong.
Game Science

Less than 24 hours after its release, Black Myth: Wukong is already making a massive impact on Steam. The action RPG isn’t just the top-played game on the platform — it also has the second-highest concurrent player count of all time.

Black Myth: Wukong is a new release from developer Game Science that turns the Chinese novel Journey to the West into a Dark Souls-adjacent action game. It’s a major moment for China, as its being touted as the country’s first “AAA” release. Its astonishing Steam player count puts the enormity of that moment into numbers.

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At the time of writing, Black Myth: Wukong has had 2,223,179 concurrent players at its peak on Steam, according to SteamDB. That’s enough to give it the second-highest peak of all time, narrowly beating out a record set by Palworld earlier this year. It only trails PUBG: Battlegrounds, which still holds a firm record of over 3 million players, a number that Black Myth: Wukong could potentially reach.

Those numbers are unheard of for a single-player action gam,e especially one that comes from an entirely new IP and studio. For context, Cyberpunk 2077 only hit just over 1 million concurrent players, while Elden Ring peaked just below that number.

While that may sound surprising at first, the numbers makes sense in context. The game is reportedly activating a large Chinese player base. According to data from GameDiscoverCo founder Simon Carless, over 88% of its current player base is in China. The U.S. is the second biggest piece of the pie with 3% of players residing there, per GameDiscoverCo’s most recent data.

Black Myth: Wukong is now available on PlayStation 5 and PC.

Giovanni Colantonio
As Digital Trends' Senior Gaming Editor, Giovanni Colantonio oversees all things video games at Digital Trends. As a veteran…
All Relic perks in Black Myth: Wukong
A character gearing up for battle in Black Myth: Wukong.

There are a ton of things to keep track of in Black Myth: Wukong. You have your basic skill tree, plus equipment, Spirits, weapons, armor, and even health gourd to manage as you make your way through the majestic landscapes. Relics show up less frequently than anything else but can have the biggest impact on your experience. This makes them just as important to the gameplay as they are to the narrative. You will only get five across the entire game, each with three distinct perks to pick from. You can only use one per Relic, though, so let us give you a quick primer on every Relic perk in Black Myth: Wukong and how you get them.
How to get Relics
Without spoiling anything, you will automatically get a new Relic at the end of each chapter in Black Myth: Wukong. With a total of six chapters, that leaves five Relics in total since you do not get one after beating the game. None of them are missable. When you get one, you can activate its perk by sitting at a Shrine and going into the Self Advance menu. From there you can go to Reignite the Sparks and finally Relics to choose your perk of choice.

While not a fully permanent choice, you will need to visit a Shrine if you ever wish to change your build with different perks since only one perk per Relic can be active at a time.
Craving Eyes

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The best staff stances in Black Myth: Wukong
A stance in Black Myth: Wukong.

Ferocious and fast-paced action await you in Black Myth: Wukong, an action role-playing game from developer Game Science. As the Destined One, the staff is your weapon of choice, though there are various combos that you can utilize. Certain options are great for offense or defense, while others offer more acrobatic maneuvers. This guide discusses the best staff stances in Black Myth: Wukong.
The best staff stances in Black Myth: Wukong
There are three staff stances in Black Myth: Wukong. These are the Smash Stance, Pillar Stance, and Thrust Stance. If unlocked, you can freely swap from one playstyle to another during combat, allowing for added flexibility when dealing with different kinds of foes. Moreover, each stance has its own unique skill tree with perks/talents that further improve their functionality. Note that you may refund and reallocate your talent points at any shrine via the Self Advance: Reignite the Sparks panel.

In any case, our Black Myth: Wukong best staff stances guide is organized based on when you unlock these options as you level up. We've also included information regarding their perks, the ideal situations on when you should switch to them, and whether they're worth it in the long run.
Smash Stance: the best early-game stance

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The best armor in Black Myth: Wukong
black myth wukong best armor sets armors

Black Myth: Wukong is all about nonstop action as you bring down dozens of bosses. While there are a plethora of moves at your disposal, including combos, spells, and transformations, it's still worth looking into various gear pieces. After all, we can't just talk about offense when there are some viable options for defense. That brings us to this guide that discusses the best armor sets in Black Myth: Wukong. Note that this article contains spoilers.
The best armor sets in Black Myth: Wukong
For our best armor sets guide for Black Myth: Wukong, we chose five options that are head and shoulders above the rest. Some are great because of extra offensive boosts that they provide, while others grant absolutely monstrous defense. One of our picks even seems unwieldy at first, but there are some workarounds to make it ideal in certain situations.
Monkey King armor set

Rarity: Mythical
Stats:

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