‘I came here for nothing!’ Black Myth: Wukong CEO reflects on Game Awards results

After the Game Awards 2024 results were announced, Feng Ji, the CEO of Black Myth: Wukong, expressed his frustration on the Chinese social media platform, Weibo. He was particularly astounded by the confusing criteria for winning the GOTY award. 

In the translated version of his statement on Weibo, he said, “This year’s nominated games are all outstanding, but I really couldn’t understand the criteria for selecting the Game of the Year this time. I came here for nothing!”

Black Myth: Wukong won two awards in the Player’s Choice and Best Action categories out of the four categories it was nominated for. The remaining three nominations were Best Art Direction, Best Game Direction, and the Game of the Year.

Also, Wukong was the lowest-rated game on Metacritic ever to be nominated for Game of the Year. 

The game’s producer, Feng Ji, expressed his gratitude for Black Myth: Wukong being the first game from China to receive four nominations and win two of them. However, he also shared his disappointment and confusion about the GOTY award’s criteria.  The CEO also listed all of the efforts that went into creating the game in a long seven-point post.

Black Myth: Wukong was a trendsetter for Chinese games

Feng Ji addressed concerns from some who believed the team’s extraordinary success with its first single-player game was a fluke and that it was unlikely to repeat itself.

He disagreed that it was just one-time luck. Rather, it was a product of several important factors coming together. He said the game’s success was the combination of Chinese interests, the country’s culture, the capability of its people, and the favorable business environment. He credited all these factors for the growth of the Chinese gaming industry.

“I believe there will be more peers in the future, bringing better, more interesting, and more confident Chinese stories to the world.”

– Feng Ji

He said Black Myth: Wukong is the trendsetter for the Chinese games that will follow in the future. The CEO also noted that Game Science valued being part of this movement deeply, as it positioned the team at the forefront of a significant shift in the industry.

Feng Ji shared the importance of games like Black Myth: Wukong 

According to Feng Ji, many people in the world are not lucky enough to play AAA games. These may include those who have never used consoles or computers, don’t understand what’s going on emotionally or physiologically, are confused and in pain, are desperate about the current world, and are victims of injustice.

Therefore, “We need to create better games and content that allow more people to experience truth, goodness, and beauty,” shared Feng Ji. 

Feng Ji told Wukong fans that their dissatisfaction with the results comes from a place of confidence rather than anger. He added that he was even more confident than them that he had prepared a winning speech two years ago. However, it did not happen.

“Today we lost, tomorrow we might lose again, but so what?” the CEO of Game Science added.

He concluded, “You can’t be confident only when you’ve already won. That’s not confidence; it’s repeating the result.” He also said that factors for winning are always uncertain. He told his fans that confidence should come from, “Doing difficult things, doing things we believe in.”

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