“Black Myth: Wukong” is China’s first blockbuster video game 中国首部重磅游戏：“黑神话：悟空”

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“Black Myth: Wukong” is China’s first blockbuster video game 中国首部重磅游戏：“黑神话：悟空”

Taking it to the next levelPhotograph: Game Science/YouTube

Aug 29th 2024

YOU ARE thrust into the heat of battle—a clash so violent it has “disturbed heaven and Earth” and “alarmed both demons and gods”. Playing as Sun Wukong, aka the Monkey King, you wield the jin gu bang (a fabled staff weighing eight tonnes) and face down Erlang, a three-eyed warrior-god. You must be wily, not to mention nimble: Erlang’s axe can cleave entire mountains in two. (And you thought your day job was stressful.)

你被推入了一场激烈的战斗——这场冲突如此猛烈，以至于“惊天动地”，“鬼神皆惊”。你将扮演着 Sun Wukong，也就是 Monkey King，你挥舞着 jin gu bang（一根传说中的重达八吨的神杖），勇敢对战三眼战神 Erlang。你必须足智多谋，更要身手敏捷：二郎神的斧头能将整座山劈成两半。（而你还以为你的日常工作已经够压力了呢。） thrust v. 刺；戳｜ n. 推力；刺；戳 thrust into 没有时间做准备或选择，被迫面对眼前的情况 disturbed heaven and Earth 惊天动地 alarmed both demons and gods 鬼神皆惊 disturb v. 打扰；妨碍 disturbed adj. 有精神病的；心理不正常的 demons n. 恶魔；精力充沛的人；高手 wield v. 使用；掌握；运用；挥舞 face down 直面或勇敢地对抗某人或某事，通常带有一种挑战和决心的意味 warrior n. 战士；武士；勇士 fabled adj. 寓言中的；虚构的；传说中的 wily adj. 狡猾的；诡计多端的 nimble adj. 灵活的 axe n. 斧子｜ v. 用斧砍；裁减；大量削减 cleave v. 劈开；坚忠于 day job 日常工作

“Journey to the West” has been adapted many times: it is the most famous novel in Chinese literature and among the country’s most successful cultural exports. But “Black Myth: Wukong”, released on August 20th, is special. The video game is the first blockbuster release from a Chinese studio. In industry lingo, “Black Myth” is a “AAA” game—a label that denotes big budgets and high production values.

“西游记”已经被改编了很多次：它是中国文学作品中最有名的小说也是这个国家最成功的文化输出。但是，8月20日发布的《黑神话：悟空》很特别，这款电子游戏是首个由中国工作室推出的重磅作品。在行业术语中，“黑神话” 是一款 “AAA” 游戏——这一标签代表着高预算和高制作水准。 lingo n. 行话；隐语；方言 denote v. 代表；表示

China is a country of gamers. By 2027 there will be more than 700m players there, and the market will be worth $57bn—up from $45.5bn in 2022—according to Niko Partners, a market-research firm. Many Chinese have bemoaned their country’s inability to produce a video game as thrilling as “Grand Theft Auto” or “World of Warcraft” (which originated in Scotland and America respectively). They are hoping “Black Myth” marks the arrival of a new player in the AAA arena.

中国是一个有很多玩家的国家。市场调研公司 Niko Partners 预计，到 2027 年，中国的玩家数量将超过7亿人，市场规模将达到570亿美元，高于2022年的455亿美元。许多中国人一直在哀叹自己的国家无法制作出像《Grand Theft Auto》或《World of Warcraft》（分别起源于 Scotland 和 America）那样令人兴奋的电子游戏。他们希望《黑神话》的出现标志着一个新玩家在AAA游戏领域的崛起。 bemoan v. 悲哀；哀叹 inability n. 无能；无力 as thrilling as 用来表达某事物与另一事物一样令人激动或刺激，通常用于比较两者的兴奋程度或吸引力 respectively adv. 各自地 arena n. 竞技场；舞台

Why has China been so late to log on? One reason is that the country has been focused on winning the mobile game war. China made four of the ten highest-grossing mobile games of 2023, including the top entry, “Honour of Kings”. Mobile games “monetise much faster”, explains one game producer in China, which counts against designers who want to spend time and money on something more expansive.

为什么中国在游戏领域的崛起如此之晚？其中一个原因是，中国一直专注于赢得手游市场的竞争。2023年全球收入最高的十款手游中，中国制作了四款，包括排名第一的《Honour of Kings》。一位中国游戏制作人解释道，手游“变现更快”，这对于那些希望花费时间和金钱开发更大规模作品的设计师来说并不利。 log on 登录 highest-grossing 高收入 entry n. 条目；参与；进入；入口 monetise v. 货币化 count against phrase. 对…不利

Nor did it help that gamers did not have the right hardware. From 2000 to 2014 China banned imports of PlayStations and Xboxes, citing concerns for youngsters’ mental health. After the ban was lifted, Chinese studios lacked the expertise to make games for those consoles; it has taken a long time to catch up. China’s game technology is “backwards”, says a developer at a major Chinese gaming firm. “Black Myth” was made with a 3D graphics creation tool called Unreal Engine from an American company, Epic Games.

玩家很难得到正确的硬件的帮助。从 2000 年到 2014 年，中国以担心青少年心理健康为由禁止进口 PlayStation 和 Xbox。直到禁令解除，中国的游戏工作室缺乏为这些游戏主机制作游戏的专业知识，他们花了很长时间才能赶上。一家中国大型游戏公司的开发人员表示，中国的游戏技术是 “落后” 的。《黑神话》是使用美国公司 Epic Games 的 3D 图形创作工具虚幻引擎制作的。 expertise n. 专业技能；专业知识 catch up phrase. 赶上

Perhaps the biggest reason for the lag is that Chinese gamers are not in the habit of paying to play. Copyright protection is often scant and software piracy rampant. That has made making elaborate games financially unviable. China is richer now, but with the rise of mobile games—which are typically free-to-play and make their money from selling in-game benefits—the habit has stuck. Some Chinese netizens were nonplussed when the pricing for “Black Myth” was announced at 268 yuan ($38).

造成这种滞后的最大原因可能是中国玩家没有付费玩游戏的习惯，版权保护往往不够，软件盗版现象猖獗。这导致了精心制作的游戏的资金不能独立。中国现在比较富裕了，但随着手机游戏的兴起（手机游戏通常是免费的，通过游戏内购赚钱），这种习惯已经保留了下来。当《黑神话》的定价为 268 元人民币（38 美元）时，一些中国网民感到困惑。 lag v. 缓慢移动；滞后｜ n. 时间间隔 scant adj. 一点的；微小的；不足的；欠缺的 piracy n. 侵权；海盗行为 rampant adj. 猖獗的；泛滥的 unviable adj. 不能独立生存的；不能独立发展的 typically adv. 往往；典型地；常常 netizen n. 网民 nonplus v. 使迷惑；使不知所措｜ n. 迷惑；困惑

GameScience, the maker of “Black Myth”, based in Hangzhou, is hoping to reboot that attitude. Feng Ji, its boss, abides by the。motto “Move oneself first, then find alignment with the market.” GameScience studied the best titles and historical material to create a game world that would feel true to “Journey to the West”.

总部位于杭州的《黑神话》开发商 GameScience 希望重塑这种态度。该公司老板 Feng Ji。信奉“自己先行动，再与市场接轨”的座右铭。GameScience 研究了最佳游戏和历史资料，以打造一个与《西游记》相符的游戏世界。 alignment n. 结盟；合作；对齐 be true to phrase. 忠于

The process took six years, but the determination has paid off. In the day after its launch, “Black Myth” enjoyed 2.2m concurrent players on Steam, a gaming platform—the second-highest figure of any game on record. Most of those players were from China, but it has proved popular abroad, too. In the week after its release, it has been the top-selling game on Steam in America, Germany and Japan. “Black Myth” has earned positive reviews on the platform from 96% of Chinese players and 93% of English-speaking ones.

尽管该游戏制作耗时六年，但这份决心得到了回报。《黑神话》在 Steam 游戏平台上发布后第二天就获得了 220 万名玩家同时在线，创下了有史以来第二高的游戏同时在线人数记录。这些玩家大多来自中国，但这款游戏在国外也很受欢迎。发布一周后，它就成为美国、德国和日本 Steam 上最畅销的游戏。《黑神话》在该平台上获得了 96% 中国玩家和 93% 英文玩家的好评。 pay off phrase. 还清；得到回报；取得成功

With “Black Myth” the Monkey King has reaffirmed his reign over Chinese content. The game has already been promoted as a source of nationalist pride. Xinhua, an official news service, says “Black Myth” has succeeded in “telling China’s story with world-class quality”. A spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry, delighted at a positive news story about China, has argued the game’s approval overseas “reflects the appeal of Chinese culture”.

美猴王凭借《黑神话》再次确立了其对中国内容的统治地位。该游戏已被宣传为民族自豪感的源泉。官方新闻机构新华社称，《黑神话》成功地 “以世界级的品质讲述了中国故事”。中国外交部发言人对有关中国的正面新闻报道感到高兴，并认为该游戏在海外获得推崇 “反映了中国文化的吸引力”。 reaffirm v. 重申；再次肯定 reign v. 统治；支配；盛行｜ n. 君主统治；在位期 nationalist n. 民族主义者；国家主义者｜ adj. 国家主义的；民族主义的 spokesperson n. 发言人

Some analysts believe that China’s gaming industry will not give up its preference for mobile even if “Black Myth” becomes the stuff of legend. But others are more optimistic. The game’s success proves the viability of blockbuster games in China, they say, and encourages other developers to think big. GameScience has accrued the experience to make subsequent projects easier. Mr Feng asserts that “There will be more Chinese games that can vie with those overseas.” That will come as good news to those who like to monkey around on gaming consoles. ■

有分析人士认为，即便《黑神话》成为传奇，中国游戏行业也不会放弃对移动端的青睐。但是其他人是乐观的，他们说，这款游戏的成功证明了重磅游戏在中国的可行性，并鼓励其他开发商大胆设想。GameScience 积累了本次的经验使得后续项目更轻松。Mr Feng 断言，“将会有更多中国游戏可以与海外游戏相媲美。” 这对于那些喜欢在游戏主机上捣鼓的人来说是一个好消息。 accrue v. 自然增加；积累 vie v. 竞争；争夺 monkey around phrase. 胡闹；捣鼓