The 10 million sales of Black Myth Wukong within three days have sparked considerable discussion both within the industry and on social media. For many, this success was attributed solely to China and its 1.4 billion inhabitants, providing strong support for the country’s first AAA export. This perspective has been viewed as somewhat narrow-minded by some, even labeled as normalized racism. With statistics seemingly pulled from thin air and compiled just three days after the game’s release, self-proclaimed experts and analysts on Twitter quickly concluded that 90% of Black Myth Wukong’s sales were recorded in China. However, it appears the reality is quite different, especially given Sony’s blog post detailing the PS5’s best-selling games ranking. Despite August being a less crowded period compared to Christmas, two major titles were closely competing just before school reopening: Black Myth Wukong and Star Wars Outlaws. Yet, whether in the US or Europe, it is evident that the title from Chinese studios Game Science topped the rankings internationally. This demonstrates the game’s ability to captivate this international audience, which is often not very receptive to Chinese culture, let alone its mythology.
These figures, which only include digital sales on the PlayStation Store for August, indicate that Star Wars Outlaws is not among the best-selling PS5 games in either the US or Europe. Given that the game was considered AAAA (four As, denoting a massive production budget) at Ubisoft and required over 5/6 years of development, this outcome is undoubtedly disappointing. Recently, JP Morgan analysis firm stated that Star Wars Outlaws “struggled to meet sales expectations despite critically acclaimed positive reviews,” leading Ubisoft to revise its targets downward to approximately 5.5 million units from the originally anticipated 7.5 million. In both the US and Europe, Star Wars Outlaws is selling below GTA V, a game released eleven years ago. This situation warrants reflection within Ubisoft.
