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Blockbuster games
游戲重磅巨作
“Black Myth: Wukong” is a hit
《黑神話：悟空》成為爆款
Will China produce more?
中國會制造更多的爆款游戲嗎？
You are thrust into the heat of battle—a clash so violent it has “disturbed heaven and Earth” and “alarmed both demons and gods”.
你被卷入了激烈的戰(zhàn)斗中——這場戰(zhàn)斗如此激烈，以至于“震撼了天地”，“驚動了鬼神”。
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.
你扮演孫悟空（也就是美猴王），揮舞著金箍棒（傳說中重達八噸的棍子），與二郎神（有三只眼睛的戰(zhàn)神）對峙。
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.)
你不僅要身手敏捷，更要詭計多端：二郎神的斧頭可以把整座山劈成兩半。（你還以為你白天的工作壓力很大。）
“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.
《西游記》已被多次改編：這是中國文學中最著名的小說，也是中國最成功的文化輸出之一。
But “Black Myth: Wukong”, released on August 20th, is special.
但在8月20日發(fā)布的《黑神話：悟空》卻很特別。
The video game is the first blockbuster release from a Chinese studio.
這個視頻游戲是中國工作室發(fā)布的第一款重磅巨作。
In industry lingo, “Black Myth” is a “AAA” game—a label that denotes big budgets and high production values.
用行業(yè)術語說，《黑神話》是一款3A游戲——這個標簽意味著高預算和高水準制作。
China is a country of gamers.
中國是一個游戲玩家眾多的大國。
By 2027 there will be more than 700 m players there, and the market will be worth $57bn—up from $45.5bn in 2022—according to Niko Partners, a market-research firm.
根據市場研究公司Niko Partners的數據，到2027年，中國的玩家將超過7億，市場規(guī)模將達到570億美元——高于2022年的455億美元。
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).
許多中國人都曾為自己的國家無法制作出像《俠盜獵車手》或《魔獸世界》（分別來自蘇格蘭和美國）那樣令人興奮的視頻游戲而感到惋惜。
They are hoping “Black Myth” marks the arrival of a new player in the AAA arena.
他們希望《黑神話：悟空》標志著在3A游戲領域出現了一個新玩家。
Why has China been so late to log on?
為什么中國進入游戲領域這么晚？
One reason is that the country has been focused on winning the mobile game war.
一個原因是中國一直專注于贏得手游之戰(zhàn)。
China made four of the ten highest-grossing mobile games of 2023, including the top entry, “Honour of Kings”.
2023年十大最賺錢的手游中，有四款是中國制作的，包括排名第一的《王者榮耀》。
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.
中國的一位游戲制作人解釋道，手游“變現速度快得多”，這對那些想在規(guī)模更大的游戲上投入時間和資金的設計師來說是不利條件。
Nor did it help that gamers did not have the right hardware.
而且過去游戲玩家沒有合適的硬件，這也是不利因素。
From 2000 to 2014 China banned imports of PlayStations and Xboxes, citing concerns for youngsters’ mental health.
從2000年到2014年，中國禁止進口索尼的PS游戲機和微軟的Xbox游戲機，理由是擔心年輕人的心理健康。
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.
禁令解除后，中國工作室缺乏為這些游戲機制作游戲的專業(yè)知識，并用了很長時間才趕上這方面的進度。
Perhaps the biggest reason for the lag is that Chinese gamers are not in the habit of paying to play.
也許滯后的最大原因是中國玩家沒有付費玩游戲的習慣。
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.
中國現在更富裕了，但隨著手游的興起——這些游戲通常是免費玩的，通過出售游戲內的福利來賺錢——這種習慣繼續(xù)存留。
Some Chinese netizens were nonplussed when the pricing for “Black Myth” was announced at 268 yuan ($38).
當《黑神話：悟空》的定價公布為268元（合38美元）時，一些中國網民驚呆了。
GameScience, the maker of “Black Myth”, based in Hangzhou, is hoping to reboot that attitude.
《黑神話》的制造商游戲科學公司（總部位于杭州）希望重塑這種態(tài)度。
Feng Ji, its boss, abides by the motto “Move oneself first, then find alignment with the market.”
游戲科學的老板馮驥遵循著這樣的座右銘：“先打動自己，再與市場對齊。”
GameScience studied the best titles and historical material to create a game world that would feel true to “Journey to the West”.
游戲科學公司研究了最好的書和歷史材料，以創(chuàng)造一個觀感與《西游記》高度相似的游戲世界。
The process took six years, but the determination has paid off.
整個過程花了六年時間，但是他們的堅定決心得到了回報。
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.
在游戲發(fā)布后的第二天，《黑神話》在游戲平臺Steam上擁有220萬同時在線玩家，這是有史以來所有游戲中第二高的數字。
Most of those players were from China, but it has proved popular abroad, too.
這些玩家大多來自中國，但游戲在國外也很受歡迎。
In the week after its release, it has been the top-selling game on Steam in America, Germany and Japan.
在發(fā)布后的一周內，《黑神話》一直是美國、德國和日本Steam上最暢銷的游戲。
“Black Myth” has earned positive reviews on the platform from 96% of Chinese players and 93% of English-speaking ones.
在Steam上，《黑神話》獲得了中國玩家96%和英語玩家93%的好評。
With “Black Myth” the Monkey King has reaffirmed his reign over Chinese content.
憑借《黑神話》，孫悟空再次鞏固了他在中國內容領域的統(tǒng)治地位。
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.
一些分析師認為，即使《黑神話》成為傳奇之作，中國的游戲行業(yè)也不會放棄對手游的偏好。
But others are more optimistic.
但其他人則更為樂觀。
The game’s success proves the viability of blockbuster games in China, they say, and encourages other developers to think big.
他們說，《黑神話》的成功證明了大制作游戲在中國的可行性，并鼓勵了其他開發(fā)者要敢想敢做。
GameScience has accrued the experience to make subsequent projects easier.
游戲科學公司已經積累了經驗，使后續(xù)項目做起來更容易。
Mr Feng asserts that “There will be more Chinese games that can vie with those overseas.”
馮驥斷言：“將會有更多的中國游戲能夠與海外游戲相媲美。”
That will come as good news to those who like to monkey around on gaming consoles.
對于那些喜歡用游戲機玩游戲的人來說，這是個好消息。
