Shanxi's wonders inspire art of hit game

Several travel platforms and institutions, including Tongcheng and Ctrip, have launched dedicated packages for these routes. They are cooperating with hotels and scenic spots to offer accommodation, ticket discounts, and cultural and creative gifts to attract more tourists from across the country to Shanxi.

As Black Myth: Wukong becomes a hit domestically and globally, Shanxi has seen an immediate rise in popularity in its tourism industry.

The game is available on multiple online game platforms, including PS5, Steam, Epic Games Store and WeGame.

According to media reports, just minutes after its release at 10 am on Aug 20, the game surged to the top of global app store best-seller lists, maintaining its high visibility until well past 10 pm, when it set a record for concurrent users on Steam.

At 8 pm, 10 hours after its official release, the game realized a global sales volume of 4.5 million copies, garnering 1.5 billion yuan ($210.6 million) in revenue. It sold 10 million copies in the first three days. Goldman Sachs expects the game will rake in 5 billion yuan on Steam.

In Shanxi, scenic sites relating to the game are also seeing a rapidly growing number of tourists, who want to see the real things that have been rendered into their familiar game images.

Over the past two weeks after the game's release, Huayan Temple in Datong, for instance, reported a 50 percent increase in tourist visits compared with the same period of last year, according to local officials.

Yuhuang Temple — also known as Jade Emperor Temple — in Jincheng city is one of the sites gaining increasing popularity thanks to Black Myth: Wukong.

Local officials said that Yuhuang Temple used to be a quiet place as it was a less known destination among tourists.

"Over the past two weeks, we have seen full reservation of tickets thanks to the release of the game," said Yin Zhenxing, an official in charge of the scenic site's operation.

The official said a unique selling point of the temple is the many figures of deities governing the 28 constellations, which are among the sources of inspiration for Black Myth: Wukong.