'Black Myth: Wu Kong' has exploded in popularity and become a phenomenal domestic 3A game.

Achieving both fame and fortune.

After launch yesterday, 'Black Myth: Wu Kong' had over 2.2 million simultaneous online players, ranking second in historical peak numbers.

As of 8pm on August 20th, the total sales volume of 'Black Myth: Wu Kong' has exceeded 4.5 million copies, with total sales of over 1.5 billion yuan.

Some analysts believe that the game's ultimate sales target could be 10 million copies, with sales revenue potentially exceeding 3.3 billion yuan.

In addition to financial success, 'Black Myth: Wu Kong' has also made a splash in promoting Chinese culture abroad:

Foreign netizens binge-reading the original 'Journey to the West', enquiring about the identity of the 'Monkey King' character, and many translations in the game directly using Pinyin...

This phenomenon of promoting culture abroad has gained attention from media outlets such as CCTV and Xinhua News Agency.

The hype around 'Black Myth: Wu Kong' has begun to subside.

After the success of 'Black Myth: Wu Kong', Shanxi Tourism, Luckin Coffee, e-sports hotels, and Huaxiang North...have all made moves in the hope of catching the wave of this potential windfall.

It is reported that many scenes in the game are based on locations in Shanxi, which has led to a doubling of tourism interest in Shanxi. Many netizens also cry out for Shanxi Tourism to design related tourist routes. Shanxi Tourism has responded and will soon publish them.

A-shares are no exception, with major stock prices of some listed companies rising sharply.

However, after the rise of the past few days, concept stocks related to 'Black Myth: Wu Kong' have fallen today.

Huayi Brothers, who indirectly hold some shares in the game developer, has risen 70% in the past five trading days, but rebounded 4.42% today, with a latest report of 2.81 yuan per share and a total market value of 7.796 billion yuan.

The game publisher Zhejiang Publishing Media continued to hit the daily trading limit. The latest quote is 10.53 yuan per share, with a total market value of 23.4 billion yuan.

The company's latest announcement shows that in the first half of this year, revenue was 5.233 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 5.06%; net income attributable to shareholders was 0.506 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 30.03%.

Citrus Publishing, which produces game peripherals, rose by the daily trading limit yesterday and was up more than 8% at one point today. It has now retreated to 5.69%, with a report of 31.56 yuan and a total market value of 6.001 billion yuan.

The game sector rose today before falling back, with Perfect World rising nearly 5%, Yaoji Technology up over 2%, and Electronic Soul Network, G-bits, 37 Interactive Entertainment, and others up more than 1%.

Several companies with homophonic puns related to 'Journey to the West' also rose sharply yesterday, but fell back today.

Among them, BSE Cloud Inside Material rose by the trading limit of 30cm yesterday and is now down 23%. Some netizens joked that BSE Cloud Inside Material is the cloud that delivers supplies in 'Black Myth: Wu Kong'.

Qitian Technology Group rose by the daily limit of 20% yesterday and once rose more than 18% today, but now it has fallen back to 14%. The stock is homonymous with "Sun Wukong," a well-known character in the Chinese classic novel "Journey to the West."

Tibet Tianlu hit the daily limit in intraday trading yesterday and once rose by more than 9% today, but now it has fallen back to 5%. Some netizens pointed out that Tibet Tianlu participated in the construction of the game "Black Myth: Wukong."

Kyland Technology rose more than 8% yesterday, but fell more than 2% today. The starting point of the Journey to the West in Kyland refers to the departure point for the Tang Priest and his disciples from China.

Major turning point in the gaming industry

If we're talking about who benefits the most from this sudden wealth, it's probably the gaming industry.

With the success of "Black Myth: Wukong," more investment capital is likely to be attracted to the gaming industry, especially for 3A games, which is a bullish sign for the industry's continued development.

Furthermore, the game has gained popularity globally, which is beneficial for the future overseas expansion of Chinese games.

Vey-Sern Ling, Managing Director of UBP, believes that the success of this game may encourage more game companies to develop similar 3A-level games. Chinese regulatory authorities might also be encouraged to support the export and development of such games.

Goldman Sachs believes that the success of "Black Myth: Wukong" is a significant turning point for China's console game industry and a key step toward the globalization of Chinese games. This may stimulate investment in the Chinese gaming industry, particularly in 3A games.

In terms of sales, Goldman Sachs expects that in the baseline scenario, "Black Myth: Wukong" will sell over 12 million copies on Steam, generating revenue of over 3 billion yuan. In the optimistic scenario, it may sell over 20 million copies and generate over 5 billion yuan in revenue. This does not include sales on WeGame and PlayStation platforms.

Goldman Sachs believes that Tencent, which owns 5% of Game Science, is likely to benefit in the future. Tencent/NetEase may also continue to invest in high-quality PC/console games to compete with their global peers for market share. Meanwhile, Bilibili may benefit from video content and user interactions related to "Black Myth: Wukong."

Debang Securities believes that the continuing popularity of "Black Myth: Wukong" is favorable for the gaming industry. The current valuation of the gaming sector is low, and the company is optimistic about the performance elasticity brought by the launch of new games.

Recommendations: Kingnet Network, Beijing Ultrapower Software, G-Bits Network Technology, Giant Network Group, Shanghai Yaoji Technology, 37 Interactive Entertainment Network Technology Group, Tencent Holdings, etc.
Relevant industry chain companies: Zhejiang Daily Media, Anhui Xinhua Media, CITIC Press Corporation, Hangzhou Shunwang Technology, etc.