It Only Cost Around $40 Million to Develop Black Myth: Wukong

Massive layoffs, overreliance on generative AI, piles of mediocre sequels, attempts to attract new audiences at the expense of loyal fans – all these nasty things that have been plaguing the game development industry over the past couple of years, if not caused by, can at least be traced back to AAA game studios' puzzling tendency to invest hundreds of millions of dollars into their projects, both in development and marketing, even if sometimes it's evident that they'll never make that money back.

While it's undeniable that big-league developers can't operate on a budget of seven quid and two bottles of beer, considering they've got thousands of workers on the payroll and must compete with other major studios in the marketing arena, when ridiculous figures like Concord's reported $400 million or Skull and Bones' alleged $850 million begin floating around, one can't help but scratch their head and ask, "Is it even possible for AAA devs not to have a bloated budget in 2024?"

According to Game Science, the developer of the hit action RPG Black Myth: Wukong, yes, it is indeed possible to create a major title without an astronomical budget. During the recently concluded Global Digital Trade Expo, the studio revealed that the total development cost for Wukong has been around ¥300 million, approximately $42.5 million USD. Considering that the game has already sold over 20 million copies in its first month, presumably raking in somewhere around $1 billion, we're looking at what might be the best benefit-cost ratio among all AAA games released in 2024.

It's important to note, however, that the $40 million figure most likely includes only the cost of actual development, not the total amount Game Science has spent on the game. Earlier, Bloomberg reported that Wukong's overall budget is around $70 million, meaning the studio has spent an additional ~$30 million on marketing, still, even with marketing included, a relatively modest sum compared to some of the other AAA projects out there.

When news of Black Myth: Wukong's reported development costs started making headlines, many understandably parried the "Wukong cheap, Western developers do better" argument by pointing out the significant salary differences between Chinese game developers and their US, European, and Canadian brethren. And indeed, the average base salary of developers in Shenzhen, China, where Game Science is headquartered, is only around ¥305,000, or $43,000 a year, which is about half of what developers earn on the other side of the globe.

The counterargument, however, was met with its own set of criticisms, as proponents of a different perspective pointed out that in this interconnected world of ours, many major studios like Electronic Arts or the aforementioned Ubisoft have offices in China and often delegate portions of their big-budget projects there, thus reducing their overall costs.

The truth, as always, is likely somewhere in the middle. Is it fair to compare the development costs of Wukong to Western games? Probably not – the salary difference is just too high. Do Western studios need to burn through hundreds of millions developing a single game? Probably not either – many of the most popular indie titles are made on a shoestring budget and have still managed to earn millions, showing that it is indeed possible to create something beautiful and profitable even with just seven quid and two bottles of beer.

And what do you think about the price of AAA gamedev? Do studios really need $200+ million to ship a game these days? What would be your money-saving strategy? Tell us in the comments!

Also, don't forget to join our 80 Level Talent platform and our Telegram channel, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, TikTok, and Reddit, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.