I thought the big problem was that most Chinese gamers were biased to mobile multiplayer games, or at least 2D isomorphic games that could be played on tablets. Those games are already pretty famous outside of China at least, this is the first time I’m seeing a 3D game take center stage instead.
There are so many versions of the monkey king that I lose track. Like the one that was reincarnated in the modern world as a handsome brother for some reason (late 90s?), then there was a movie with Jackie Chan and Jet Li in it 15 years ago. It made 53 million in the USA at least, which was more than it made in the mainland.
They were biased to mobile games because it's the most lucrative, and so game studios index on that. If you go further back, there were wildly popular CRPGs that just weren't very widely marketed outside of China. They were AAA grade of that era, but never officially translated nor marketed.
Jinyong Heroes, Calamity of Heaven and Earth, Heroes of the Celestial Sword were all popular CRPGs within China on the level of Final Fantasy, but were merely cult classics outside the country. None of them were homages, and didn't have this ethnic level of cultural influence.
They were (are?) widely regarded and almost always based on costume dramas, which are very Chinese in cultural influence. It will be interesting to see how this wukong plays out and if it sets a new gaming direction for the mainland.
There are so many versions of the monkey king that I lose track. Like the one that was reincarnated in the modern world as a handsome brother for some reason (late 90s?), then there was a movie with Jackie Chan and Jet Li in it 15 years ago. It made 53 million in the USA at least, which was more than it made in the mainland.