Game Science Confirms Black Myth: Wukong Expansion

Black Myth: Wukong has been one of 2024's biggest hits, fast-tracked to the top of the charts as one of the best-selling single-player games ever. Most of us have played through Black Myth: Wukong at this point, possibly more than once, so the big question is, what's next? Well, Game Science seems to have big plans for their first-ever AAA title. They've officially confirmed a full-blown expansion, and no, it won't take another six years to finish—it's coming soon!

An interview with Daniel Wu, one of the main investors at Game Science, further explains the future of Black Myth: Wukong. According to Wu, the Black Myth: Wukong expansion will not be a sequel but rather an add-on to the base game, giving Game Science a second chance to monetize the game—very much like how Elden Ring's expansion, Shadow of the Erdtree, gave it a sales boost.
 

 

To give you an idea of just how significant the DLC of Elden Ring was, Shadow of the Erdtree reportedly sold more than 4 million copies in its first few days of release; meanwhile, Black Myth: Wukong has sold a staggering amount since its initial release, even two weeks from its release on the 20th of August. Of course, it now rivals as one of the most successful single-player games ever. It has broken records, grossing over $700 million so far.

In retrospect, it makes the success much greater considering this is Game Science's first AAA title, considering all their earlier games were modest free-to-play mobile titles that did not do well. However, the experience of Game Science with free-to-play models has been influential in their philosophy, especially since founder Fang's time at Tencent. In the Bloomberg interview, Fang noted that microtransactions and pay-to-win would not appear in either the main game or its expansion, a fact for which many fans would be quite grateful.

Such an expansion could also revive cut content, such as bosses and areas shown in early trailers that did not make it into the final game. For example, there was a huge battle between Wukong and 100,000 Celestial Court soldiers who were axed due to repetitive feelings. Then there is that giant cobra enemy, a 'Thor-like' boss, among others, that is absent from the final product.

There are hints that more missing zones from Chapter 2 could also make their way into the Black Myth: Wukong expansion since areas are so much larger and the varieties of enemies seen in pre-alpha footage are far wider. Some of the encounters, like fighting 20 archers, seem far more chaotic compared to what we received on the final release, perhaps for performance reasons. Evidence of an earlier version of the monkey form Wukong can take also appears in the secret ending, which was shown in earlier trailers but didn't make sense in the full game.

With all these possible additions and the promise of new content steeped in rich Chinese mythology, this Black Myth: Wukong expansion will have much to live up to. Already, fans speculate on what legendary characters and creatures might pop up next, with the game's firm stance on delivering a true single-player experience. This leaves much room for this expansion to do its thing, and expectations are high.