Black Myth: Wukong, a game developed by Hangzhou-based Game Science, welcomed its global release on Aug 20, and soon became a hit on social media platforms home and abroad.

Within half a day after its release, the game became the most popular game on platforms such as Steam and WeGame, with over 1 million players. Comprehensive rating website Metacritic shows a score of 82 for the game after 57 critic reviews.

Inspired by Journey to the West, one of China's ancient literature classics, the third-person action game features Sun Wukong, also known as Monkey King, as its main character, and showcases a variety of traditional architecture, costumes and cultural elements.

Zhao Xuan, general secretary of Zhejiang Game Industry Association, regarded the release of Black Myth: Wukong a milestone for Chinese game producers.

"The game's popularity among global players proved that Chinese games are capable of competing with European and US counterparts in the triple-A game market," he said.

Triple-A games are typically defined as high-cost, high-volume, high-quality stand-alone titles, a market currently dominated by Japanese, American and French companies.

Feng Ji, the game's producer and cofounder of Game Science, attribute its phenomenon global heat to the underlying culture behind the game.

"Great games allow players worldwide to exchange experiences and share joy," he said.

Travis, a game bloger in Virginia, the US, said though he is completely ignorant about Chinese mythology and the culture behind it, he is eager to learn more about it after playing the game.

"I have never encountered anything about Sun Wukong in any form, but this game is getting a lot people to be interested in this," he said.

Feng said the global attention and praise has surpassed his initial expectations and has further motivated his team to develop more similar products.

Reporter Yan Yiqi