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Blockbuster games
游戏重磅巨作
“Black Myth: Wukong” is a hit
《黑神话：悟空》成为爆款
Will China produce more?
中国会制造更多的爆款游戏吗？
You are thrust into the heat of battle—a clash so violent it has “disturbed heaven and Earth” and “alarmed both demons and gods”.
你被卷入了激烈的战斗中——这场战斗如此激烈，以至于“震撼了天地”，“惊动了鬼神”。
Playing as Sun Wukong, aka the Monkey King, you wield the jin gu bang (a fabled staff weighing eight tonnes) and face down Erlang, a three-eyed warrior-god.
你扮演孙悟空（也就是美猴王），挥舞着金箍棒（传说中重达八吨的棍子），与二郎神（有三只眼睛的战神）对峙。
You must be wily, not to mention nimble: Erlang’s axe can cleave entire mountains in two. (And you thought your day job was stressful.)
你不仅要身手敏捷，更要诡计多端：二郎神的斧头可以把整座山劈成两半。（你还以为你白天的工作压力很大。）
“Journey to the West” has been adapted many times: it is the most famous novel in Chinese literature and among the country’s most successful cultural exports.
《西游记》已被多次改编：这是中国文学中最著名的小说，也是中国最成功的文化输出之一。
But “Black Myth: Wukong”, released on August 20th, is special.
但在8月20日发布的《黑神话：悟空》却很特别。
The video game is the first blockbuster release from a Chinese studio.
这个视频游戏是中国工作室发布的第一款重磅巨作。
In industry lingo, “Black Myth” is a “AAA” game—a label that denotes big budgets and high production values.
用行业术语说，《黑神话》是一款3A游戏——这个标签意味着高预算和高水准制作。
China is a country of gamers.
中国是一个游戏玩家众多的大国。
By 2027 there will be more than 700 m players there, and the market will be worth $57bn—up from $45.5bn in 2022—according to Niko Partners, a market-research firm.
根据市场研究公司Niko Partners的数据，到2027年，中国的玩家将超过7亿，市场规模将达到570亿美元——高于2022年的455亿美元。
Many Chinese have bemoaned their country’s inability to produce a video game as thrilling as “Grand Theft Auto” or “World of Warcraft” (which originated in Scotland and America respectively).
许多中国人都曾为自己的国家无法制作出像《侠盗猎车手》或《魔兽世界》（分别来自苏格兰和美国）那样令人兴奋的视频游戏而感到惋惜。
They are hoping “Black Myth” marks the arrival of a new player in the AAA arena.
他们希望《黑神话：悟空》标志着在3A游戏领域出现了一个新玩家。
Why has China been so late to log on?
为什么中国进入游戏领域这么晚？
One reason is that the country has been focused on winning the mobile game war.
一个原因是中国一直专注于赢得手游之战。
China made four of the ten highest-grossing mobile games of 2023, including the top entry, “Honour of Kings”.
2023年十大最赚钱的手游中，有四款是中国制作的，包括排名第一的《王者荣耀》。
Mobile games “monetise much faster”, explains one game producer in China, which counts against designers who want to spend time and money on something more expansive.
中国的一位游戏制作人解释道，手游“变现速度快得多”，这对那些想在规模更大的游戏上投入时间和资金的设计师来说是不利条件。
Nor did it help that gamers did not have the right hardware.
而且过去游戏玩家没有合适的硬件，这也是不利因素。
From 2000 to 2014 China banned imports of PlayStations and Xboxes, citing concerns for youngsters’ mental health.
从2000年到2014年，中国禁止进口索尼的PS游戏机和微软的Xbox游戏机，理由是担心年轻人的心理健康。
After the ban was lifted, Chinese studios lacked the expertise to make games for those consoles; it has taken a long time to catch up.
禁令解除后，中国工作室缺乏为这些游戏机制作游戏的专业知识，并用了很长时间才赶上这方面的进度。
Perhaps the biggest reason for the lag is that Chinese gamers are not in the habit of paying to play.
也许滞后的最大原因是中国玩家没有付费玩游戏的习惯。
China is richer now, but with the rise of mobile games—which are typically free-to-play and make their money from selling in-game benefits—the habit has stuck.
中国现在更富裕了，但随着手游的兴起——这些游戏通常是免费玩的，通过出售游戏内的福利来赚钱——这种习惯继续存留。
Some Chinese netizens were nonplussed when the pricing for “Black Myth” was announced at 268 yuan ($38).
当《黑神话：悟空》的定价公布为268元（合38美元）时，一些中国网民惊呆了。
GameScience, the maker of “Black Myth”, based in Hangzhou, is hoping to reboot that attitude.
《黑神话》的制造商游戏科学公司（总部位于杭州）希望重塑这种态度。
Feng Ji, its boss, abides by the motto “Move oneself first, then find alignment with the market.”
游戏科学的老板冯骥遵循着这样的座右铭：“先打动自己，再与市场对齐。”
GameScience studied the best titles and historical material to create a game world that would feel true to “Journey to the West”.
游戏科学公司研究了最好的书和历史材料，以创造一个观感与《西游记》高度相似的游戏世界。
The process took six years, but the determination has paid off.
整个过程花了六年时间，但是他们的坚定决心得到了回报。
In the day after its launch, “Black Myth” enjoyed 2.2m concurrent players on Steam, a gaming platform—the second-highest figure of any game on record.
在游戏发布后的第二天，《黑神话》在游戏平台Steam上拥有220万同时在线玩家，这是有史以来所有游戏中第二高的数字。
Most of those players were from China, but it has proved popular abroad, too.
这些玩家大多来自中国，但游戏在国外也很受欢迎。
In the week after its release, it has been the top-selling game on Steam in America, Germany and Japan.
在发布后的一周内，《黑神话》一直是美国、德国和日本Steam上最畅销的游戏。
“Black Myth” has earned positive reviews on the platform from 96% of Chinese players and 93% of English-speaking ones.
在Steam上，《黑神话》获得了中国玩家96%和英语玩家93%的好评。
With “Black Myth” the Monkey King has reaffirmed his reign over Chinese content.
凭借《黑神话》，孙悟空再次巩固了他在中国内容领域的统治地位。
Some analysts believe that China’s gaming industry will not give up its preference for mobile even if “Black Myth” becomes the stuff of legend.
一些分析师认为，即使《黑神话》成为传奇之作，中国的游戏行业也不会放弃对手游的偏好。
But others are more optimistic.
但其他人则更为乐观。
The game’s success proves the viability of blockbuster games in China, they say, and encourages other developers to think big.
他们说，《黑神话》的成功证明了大制作游戏在中国的可行性，并鼓励了其他开发者要敢想敢做。
GameScience has accrued the experience to make subsequent projects easier.
游戏科学公司已经积累了经验，使后续项目做起来更容易。
Mr Feng asserts that “There will be more Chinese games that can vie with those overseas.”
冯骥断言：“将会有更多的中国游戏能够与海外游戏相媲美。”
That will come as good news to those who like to monkey around on gaming consoles.
对于那些喜欢用游戏机玩游戏的人来说，这是个好消息。
