The first thing Mark Feng does every day after work is to plonk down at his home computer and fire up Black Myth: Wukong. That action-adventure game transforms the 29-year-old investor for a private equity fund in Beijing into Sun Wukong, aka the Monkey King from the 16th century Chinese novel “Journey to the West.” Feng wields the Jin Gu Bang, a legendary staff made of gold and iron, kills demons and gods alike, and often just can’t stop. “I play it until 2 in the morning,” he says.

Black Myth: Wukong, which is available in a range of languages including English, is the hottest selling single-player PC game and may become one of the most successful ever. Since its release on Aug. 20, it has surpassed industry blockbusters Cyberpunk 2077 and Elden Ring in early sales by most measures and drawn praise from the world’s most famous game maniac, billionaire Elon Musk, who called the game “impressive” in a recent tweet. Musk included a photo of himself as the Monkey King.

The obscure Shenzhen-based studio Game Science is behind Black Myth: Wukong and Forbes estimates that the scrappy studio founded in 2014 has reached $1.8 billion in valuation, effectively joining the exclusive club of unicorns, startups valued over $1 billion. Founder Feng Ji, a 42-year-old self-confessed gaming addict and Game Science’s largest individual shareholder, has amassed a fortune of about $770 million derived from his own stake, Forbes estimates.

Feng Ji, founder of Game Science.

Black Myth: Wukong is on track to reach up to 35 million copies in sales this year alone, generating more than $1 billion in total revenues. That is more than enough to cover the estimated 400 million yuan ($56 million) used to develop the game, which took six years. Elden Ring, developed by Japan’s FromSoftware and winner of the prestigious Game of the Year award at the........

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