Spirit beads control magical treasures and engage in battles with ancient giant gods between heaven and earth; The Jinyiwei saw their moves in the shadows of swords and knives, and opened them up; The teenage swordsman dodges the sharp edge and counterattacks with ease... Behind these game scenes full of Eastern imagination are the common support of digital technologies such as game engines, motion capture, real-time rendering, fluid computation, and artificial intelligence.

During the 2026 China International Digital Interactive Entertainment Exhibition (ChinaJoy) with the theme of "Traveling with AI", nearly 900 companies from 39 countries and regions participated, and more than a thousand game products were showcased.

Two years ago, the success of "Black Myth: Wukong" witnessed a new height in Chinese gaming. After the craze, a more realistic question lies in front of practitioners: how far is the road from a phenomenal work to more games continuing to go global? For this purpose, the reporter interviewed several domestic single player game producers and overseas publishers.

A seed opens a door

After the release of "Black Myth: Wukong", Pu Guannan completed the game in less than two days.

Black Myth is a seed that will inspire thousands of people, "said Pu Guannan. Prior to this, the Star Wushuang he founded mainly engaged in barrage interactive game business. Not long after completing the level, he made the decision to turn to the development of large-scale single player games and launch the sci-fi action game "Whispers of Time and Space".

The popularity of "Black Myth: Wukong" has driven the growth of the domestic console gaming market. According to a report released by the China Audio Video and Digital Publishing Association, the actual sales revenue of the domestic console game market reached 8.362 billion yuan in 2025, a year-on-year increase of 86.33%, achieving high-speed growth for three consecutive years.

During this ChinaJoy, a group of domestically produced single player game works that have been developed for many years were showcased, which is a concentrated manifestation of the technical accumulation and creative exploration of Chinese game practitioners for many years.

The founder and game producer of Chengdu Sword and Panda Network, Wuxia, has participated in the development of multiple internationally renowned 3A games. In 2022, he returned to his hometown to start a team and create the game "Monkey King Sword".

We waited for more than 20 years and finally got this opportunity, "said Wuxia. Many domestic single player games were launched before the release of" Black Myth: Wukong "." A large-scale game production often takes 5 years or even longer, and it is impossible to see a successful game and produce a new work the next year

The development of the game "A Song of Autumn: Jinyiwei" was also before the popularity of "Wukong". Liu Qiwei, a game producer born in the 1990s, worked in the mobile gaming industry in his early years. Later, he gathered several like-minded partners and gradually built a complete team.

In Liu Qiwei's view, the concentrated emergence of domestic single player games in recent years is due to the accumulation of technology, talent, and industrial capabilities to a certain stage, as well as the product results of "Black Myth: Wukong" verifying the feasibility of this path. The long accumulated desire to express oneself meets the gradually mature industry conditions, allowing more practitioners to strive towards high-quality works.

Technology makes culture more 'playable'

The sword's edge hit head-on, but the protagonist did not roll towards the distance. Instead, he sidestepped the edge and launched a counterattack in the moment he brushed past... This is a combat mechanism designed in "The Sword of the Ape" - "Avoiding Blue and Entering Red".

Wuxia has studied traditional martial arts. In his view, Chinese swordsmanship does not always rely on brute force, but emphasizes observation, body techniques, timing, and the transition between offense and defense. Based on this, the game has transformed the concept of "avoiding its sharpness and taking advantage of opportunities to enter" into specific operations.

Through physical exercise and cultivation, I aim to achieve spiritual sublimation, which is something I particularly want to express in games, "said Wuxia.

With the improvement of the industrialization level of domestic games, traditional culture is directly forming an attraction for global players through graphics, actions, and gameplay. Nowadays, from ancient myths and Chinese history to traditional martial arts and local customs, more and more domestic single player games are seeking creative inspiration and resources from Chinese culture, attempting to integrate cultural connotations into combat mechanisms, character growth, and world construction.

Liu Yang, founder of Pangu Soul game and producer of "Ancient Gods: Wind Rishi", attempted to use digital technology to depict the imagined scene of "gods fighting" in ancient times. The game seeks inspiration from Chinese creation myths such as N ü wa creating humans. Liu Yang led the development team to use fluid computing, dynamic special effects, and an air ground dual posture system to transform the mythical imagination of flying to the ground and commanding wind and rain into a real-time combat experience that can be operated by players themselves.

The song 'A Song of Autumn: Jinyiwei' attempts to present the feeling of 'skilled martial artists fighting' in martial arts stories. The game revolves around the construction of a combat system based on true qi, internal qi, weaknesses, and restraint of moves, achieving the goal of "seeing moves and breaking them, using moves to break them".

Chinese culture is a 'good food ingredient', but first we need to stimulate the 'aroma' to make people willing to approach and taste it. Liu Qiwei believes that only when the game's operations, graphics, and battles can attract players, can the hidden history and culture be further perceived.

From being seen to being remembered

When communicating with overseas gaming professionals, Liu Yang has repeatedly tried to explain: Who is N ü wa in the game?

Liu Yang linked the story of N ü wa turning clay to create humans with Chinese porcelain, and designed the protagonist's growth as a "utensil" shaped from soil and water, gradually growing into a human and moving towards a god; The overseas name of the game highlights the relatively well-known image of "Nezha", guiding players to understand the ancient Chinese creation myth.

In 2025, the actual sales revenue of Chinese independently developed games in overseas markets will reach 20.455 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 10.23%, and exceed 100 billion yuan for the sixth consecutive year. Among them, mobile games still account for the main part. For both mainframe and standalone products, establishing awareness in the global market is still a path that needs to be explored.

From completing development to truly reaching overseas players, a game also has an industry chain consisting of funding, marketing, localization, media dissemination, and sales channels.

4Divinity, a subsidiary of Singapore game publishing and distribution company GCL, has undertaken the overseas distribution of "Black Myth: Goku". According to Lv Sheng, the business manager of Jia Shi Er in China, the R&D and technical capabilities of the Chinese gaming team have approached the international front line, but some teams still have shortcomings in global market experience, original IP shaping, localization, and full process distribution. To this end, GCL intervened in the early stages of the game project, providing financial support while discussing product direction, script, localization, and overseas communication strategies with the team, and then completing the landing through overseas exhibitions, media, and sales channels.

'Wukong' proves that Chinese cultural themes can enter the global mainstream gaming market, but it does not shorten the long creative process that a good game must go through. Chinese games still need to combine technology, culture, and industrial capabilities through repeated creation and market testing, to create Chinese stories that global players are willing to pick up the controller, step into, and remember even after the game ends.

Pu Guannan gave an analogy: In the early Tang Dynasty, there was Wang Bo, but it was not until several decades later that Li Bai and Du Fu appeared. Single player games are not products that can be mass-produced by increasing computing power and accumulating data. Technology can expand the boundaries of creation, but cannot replace time, experience, and the expression of creators themselves, "he said. (Looking into the New Era)