Black Myth: Wukong director reportedly expresses disappointment over Game Awards snub

Black Myth: Wukong director Feng Ji has posted a lengthy statement thanking fans for their support following The Game Awards, and expressing disappointment that the GameScience action title didn’t come away with the headline Game of the Year award.

The hugely popular single-player title won the Action Game and the community-voted Player’s Voice awards at The Game Awards, but it missed out on Game of the Year, which was won by Sony‘s Astro Bot.

In a post on the Chinese social media site, Weibo, which has been machine translated, Feng Ji reportedly claims that he even wrote his acceptance speech for The Game Awards two years ago.

The post reportedly reads: “In the end, it won the Best Action and Player’s Voice, especially the Player’s Voice, which is gratifying. But I must admit that there are disappointments and regrets… The games nominated this year are all excellent, but I really don’t understand the selection criteria for this year’s Game of the Year. I came here for nothing!”

“From yesterday to now, I have also seen strong dissatisfaction, unwillingness, and unhappiness in the comments of many players – most of them expressed in a humorous and deconstructive way, which is hilarious,” the translation continues.

“I can fully understand this unwillingness to  sympathize with this unhappiness because I know that behind these emotions, it is not pain and malice, but self-esteem and self-confidence.”

It’s unclear if the tone of the post is sarcastic or joking, as several phrases in the post are humourous in tone.

However, following The Game Awards, it was claimed by former Sony Santa Monica writer Alanah Pearce that an unnamed developer from Game Science was seen crying when Astro Bot was announced as the winner of Game of the Year. 

VGC has reached out to GameScience for comment.

Black Myth: Wukong has been a huge commercial success since it was released earlier this year, selling over 20 million copies across PC and PS5.

Within days of release, it attracted over 1.44 million concurrent players on Steam, according to tracker Steam Charts, which means it’s already the platform’s fourth biggest game ever in terms of concurrent players.

According to China-based journalist and games industry consultant Daniel Camilo, Game Science wants to launch an expansion for the game to coincide with the Chinese New Year, which begins on January 29, 2025.

VGC’s Black Myth: Wukong final impressions called the game “a beautiful if slightly boring boss rush”, saying: “It’s utterly gorgeous and technically mighty, but its gameplay and narrative leave quite a bit to be desired.”