Facepalm: If you’re going to try to piggyback on the success of a game, you may as well go all in. That’s what the makers of upcoming Switch game Wukong Sun: Black Legend have done. Not only does it have a similar name to Black Myth: Wukong, but it also features nearly identical promotional images. The $7.99 game itself is totally different, of course, and it’s causing a lot of anger among China’s internet users.
Wukong Sun: Black Legend arrives on the Nintendo eShop on December 26. Like the megahit that it’s obviously ripping off, it’s based on the 1592 Chinese novel Journey to the West. There have been several books, games, and shows based on this source material.
“Embark on an epic Journey to the West in Wukong Sun: Black Legend,” reads the eShop description for the game. “Step into the role of the immortal Wukong, the legendary Monkey King, as he battles through a chaotic world teeming with powerful monsters and untold dangers.”
It might sound like Game Science’s award-winning action RPG, and it’s easy to imagine that people will look at the promo art and assume the graphically stunning third-person actioner has been ported to the Switch. But no: this is a side-scroller that wouldn’t look out of place on a 16-bit console like the Sega Genesis or SNES.
The store listing also boasts that Wukong Sun: Black Legend features “supercharged abilities and crazy fighting skills,” and “captivating visuals with unforgettable storytelling,” which seems at odds with the fact it costs $8 and requires just 338 megabytes of storage space.
China is very proud of Black Myth: Wukong. The game has become the country’s first domestically developed AAA hit, having sold more than 20 million copies and won several major awards. It also appears in Steam’s recent Best of 2024 top-sellers and most-played categories.
Business Insider reports that Wukong Sun: Black Legend has caused quite a stir on China’s internet, topping discussion rankings on Weibo, the country’s version of X. “Since Nintendo has removed pirated games from its shelves, this should also be removed,” wrote one user.
“Hey everyone, have you heard? The stunning ‘Black Myth: Wukong’ has actually been copied! This really makes you speechless,” wrote another.
While this is an instance of a name and art style ripping off another game, we recently saw a title that imitated the gameplay of a big hit to an almost copyright-infringing level. Tencent developer Polaris Quest’s Light of Motiram (above) looks so similar to the Horizon Zero Dawn series that many people initially assumed it was some sort of expansion or official sequel.
