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In a stunning debut, Black Myth: Wukong from Chinese developer Game Science came out of nowhere to become one of the year's best-selling games. Considering it's a single-player outing, a new IP, and Game Science's first console title, it's especially impressive. In recognition of these achievements and more, Black Myth: Wukong has been declared Golden Joystick Ultimate Game of the Year, kicking off the awards season in suitably compelling style.
If you didn't know, The Golden Joysticks are a GamesRadar+ joint these days, an outlet we frequently cite here. It's actually the second oldest award show in the industry, after the Arcade Awards, and began way back in 1983, before many gamers were even born. While perhaps not as glitzy as Geoff Keighley's The Game Awards, they don't allow DLC to contend for Game of the Year, which is a pretty compelling differential in our opinion.
For the last two years, both The Game Awards and The Golden Joysticks have declared the same GotY winners, Elden Ring in 2022 and Baldur's Gate 3 in 2023. We wanted to try to draw a connection between the two, predicting the TGA winner by which way the earlier Golden Joysticks go. As Keighley and company seem quite intent on giving GotY to Shadow of the Erdtree, it remains to be seen if this bold theorem is proven true.
Does Black Myth: Wukong's early Ultimate Game of the Year win at the Golden Joysticks portend a Larian-style string of victories for Game Science? Let us know in the comments section below.
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[source gamesradar.com]
Comments 51
And that's what having a population of 1.4 billion does, right there....
It's weird, mot to mention redundant to read an article about this game winning the award when you've already announced it on a previous article. You lot need to communicate better 😁
@riceNpea what article do you mean? All I saw was a PS+ Premium story...
I love this game. I find the treatment this game has had to endure quite indicative of the herd mentality in terms of how nobody even noticed half of the issues (including push square) until DF produced their expose' and then all of a sudden everybody and their cats suddenly developed controller lag etc,etc,etc. After just 3 days of the review embargo being lifted pushsquare published their review and gave it an 8/10 which was great except it was described as a boss run and quite clearly the review was not in depth and was a speed run of sorts mainly because there is no way that you could cover everything the game has to offer in 3 days. So despite all the negativity surrounding this game and all the fake outrage (pointing right at you IGN) it's great to see this game nominated. Awesome 1st game from game science.
Whatever you thought. In my opinion, this game is good but far from a GOTY. I will pick Astro Bot, Rebirth, Silent Hill or even Animal Well over this.
But this is a public voted award (with tens of millions of voters from China). I guess phantom blade zero will probably win the next Joystick Award.
@Northern_munkey I think you mean won not nominated. I think we have to remember that whilst it may be a good game, this is a player-voted award, meaning it's a popularity contest. Normally that wouldn't matter.... in this case... even if it's a good game I don't know that it's representative of the broader opinion. To be fair, I've not played it... but based on the negativity in the press, I'm not sure it's a leading indicator of how TGA will go....
Edit - and before anyone thinks I've got some axe to grind, I think they made a very good game that has a lot of widespread support. Popularity is clearly subjective, but it's also often driven by numbers (like the concurrent Steam players) that doesn't always tell the full story. And yes, I think the negativity on this game is as much about political agendas as it is about the game itself.
Seems undeserved. Or like this year was lacking in quality, AAA releases (which I think is what most people mean when they say it's been a "slow year" around award season. At least that's what I've always meant).
I didn't play Black Myth (yeah, yeah, "How can you say it's undeserved then?"), but given all the gripes I heard about it, and it's seemingly non-existent level design, I'm pretty surprised it'd be considered the best of any year. Even Stellar Blade (I played that demo... Does that count?) seemed significantly better, and I still can't really see that as GotY material.
In my professional, not-paid game opinion, that card game people sunk 1000s of hours into is probably more deserving. But that's neither AAA nor has mass appeal, so awards don't care. In my entirely personal opinion, I literally haven't played a single game this year I thought deserved to be THE GAME. I guess Astro Bot got closest...but still not quiiiiite there.
@Northern_munkey "I find the treatment this game has had to endure quite indicative of the herd mentality"
It's one of the best selling games of the year and is currently picking up goty awards, what treatment? it seems like it's doing fine for itself. Cause 2-3 news outlets did one negative article each about it? You're angry because It should have received 100% positive coverage or else?
Important to note that the Golden Joysticks are all fan voted. Wukong is definitely the populist pick. This doesn’t really mean much in the scope of things considering how the fan votes are 10% of the TGA’s votes.
@Oz_Who_Dat_Dare no I meant nominated. In order to win it had to be nominated and it was great to see despite all the agenda pushing against it.
@Juanalf so you didn't read any of the negative reporting of the game and the devs at all? Pushsquare published enough of them so I find it hard you didn't notice any. The games brilliant and getting the praise it deserves but let's not pretend there was no attempt to get it cancelled.
The only thing I cared about this event was that Helldivers 2 won 4 categories (matching most Ws with ff) and Astro won 2.
This is fan voted so for a quiet year PS ips still hitting hard.
Well deserved! 👏🎉
Should have gone to FF7 Rebirth smh
@Northern_munkey (a little confused) ... so you knew it won, but were only glad it was nominated? Which is fine... I'm sure a lot of people would put it in their personal best of 6 list. It just looked like you may have had a comment moment (I do it all the time, when my brain doesn't feel like waiting for my fingers ... casting no aspirsations btw).
@Oz_Who_Dat_Dare none taken buddy 👍
I'm sure the enormous sales mean more to the devs than this award but good for them. Black myth was in my top 3 games this year alongside astrobot and lost crown.
Haven't played the other nominees so can't say whether or not wukong was truly deserving, but the wife and I had a great time with it despite some minor flaws.
I’m very glad for them about the sells! Social awards mean little. Their real award was a good reception worldwide by consumers and high profits from actual sells. I would like to see more console games from eastern developers with each passing year. More variety, creativity, and competition will be a good thing.
@Oz_Who_Dat_Dare yup plus their rising average salaries and middle class. If console gaming grows in that country western developers will have to step their game up as most of the world lives outside of the west. As the china market could become one of the top most significant markets just like the car market. We shall see mate.
@Vaako007 and in all seriousness.. China and India are being focussed for seed-game-funding for a reason. And I think, that's a discussion (in terms of popular vs critic voting) we're all going to have to have. Neither option (for selecting GOTY... which-ever flavour) seems that great to me.
And yet - I also see this is part of that "oh, really..." moment for a lot of gamers that suddenly realise that the Western console market might be a small drop in the bucket. However... I would say this, like pretty well everywhere... console gaming is being replaced by PC + Mobile/Tablet/Porta-PC. Including in China and India.
Congratulations to BMW, it’s a popular game and wins the popularity award.
I think all awards have their place, some are voted for by critics, others by devs and some like this are meant to be a fan voted popularity contest. It’s important to have that range of awards.
I also have a soft spot for the Golden Joysticks as I used to vote by mail in the 80s and 90s. But I don’t think all awards are equal, there are caveats to all voting systems but this has more flaws than most.
Firstly it’s just a popularity contest, completely biased against any smaller games who don’t stand a chance. It’s not a level playing field.
But it’s also not just fan voted. The reality since internet voting took over is that an online fan vote is completely susceptible to brigading (organised online action to make something appear more, or less, popular than it is) and bots. Pewdiepie proved this years ago getting his minions to get a meme game awarded at the Golden Joysticks.
Personally I like to see a better methodology used for GOTY.
@Cloud39472 personally don't understand the hate for rebirth, yeah minigames were awful, but combat was stellar especially end game,
Unpopular opinion but I also like how they handled the story, took away some crap, added some stuff and elaborated on current l, all while looking absolutely stunning, my GOTY for sure
Is this a PlayStation dub or nah?
@Cloud39472 I don't see how this is different from every other AAA game these days. It seems there is a subset of 'gamers' who do nothing but moan and stoke the flames of outrage culture. I'd agree that it's the vocal minority but it gets tiring.
I think the last GOTY winner I actually liked was The Witcher 3 back in 2015.
They did well, I have yet to finish the game, I think I got to WhiteClad Noble and lost interest with boss fights I gotta git gud lol
I watched this live yesterday (surprised by how low budget the whole thing was) but the fact that Helldivers 2 and Final Fantasy Rebirth won most of the awards, and then for this to win game of the year was.... odd!
@PaperAlien to be fair... everyone is fully on-board and awards show... until their favourite doesn't win. In this case, it's a little different... but we should all remember...awards shows don't really mean anything. They generally come after the game's peak purchasing window, and other than box-bling, they are more about setting up pedigree (and yes - some games do have a long tail.... aaa-ah-aaaa.... <wait for it>... Skyrim!... which didn't even win "GOTY").
@Oz_Who_Dat_Dare the other award article
Deserved. The entire dialogue surrounding Chinese gamers buying it always seemed weird, like as if they didn't count or something? Maybe those Chinese gamers only like to play games that look fun? They didn't all sprout out of the ground at once JUST to play Wukong.
Plus the PS5 sold really well in China, so a lot of Chinese gamers are probably playing on that not PC so Steam numbers aren't a direct indication of a sudden Chinese wave of players either.
The Golden Joysticks are voted to win, so I’m not surprised with that one. I don’t expect Black Myth will win GotY with many publications that aren’t in China this year. I’d definitely be surprised if it wins at TGA.
No really hate towards Wukong, but I do think it got over hyped a tad too much. Both crititics (lol I know) and gamers both think the game is an 8/10, obviously still an amazing first outing for game science.
@Oram77 I agree. It’s not a GotY tier game. It’s a good game, but likely in the running because it had an insane player count early on. I know plenty that would have the game in their top 10 list, but none that would vote if GotY. Though this year is extremely divisive for GotY.
I’ve said it elsewhere but if this wins, we’re celebrating games going back to having stories that aren’t fleshed out in the process of a game again.
@Oz_Who_Dat_Dare The game is excellent, GOTY for me without a doubt, loved Steller Blade too.
N.i.c.e. black myth wukong is a excellent game.the hype turn out to be real.word up son
Rated 76 on Metacritic.....
Yeah there's definitely politics behind this... Or money.
I liked this game so much, I got the platinum for it.
Congrats to Game Science!
wukong 81 on metacritic the lowest rated game ever for the goty award it has zero chance of winning the award since the highest rated game ususally wins the award..
@Oz_Who_Dat_Dare The youtuber Maximillian Dood while going over the Game Awards nominees said that if all game awards were based on fan vote every game of the year vote would go to Black Myth Wukong due to their giant population
Coming up to 100 hours game time and that sweet, sweet platinum trophy.
Great game and can easily see why it got GOTY.
@UltimateOtaku91 While I do think that there is a bit of politics in the online discourse, I don't think its lower scores are a reflection of that. When commenters make the accusation that its all politics; that discounts the opinions of those that actually just don't like the game.
I say this as someone that genuinely doesn't like the game, and I don't have any issues with its origin. I am actually happy to see more cultures throwing their hat into the ring.
@Northern_munkey Totally agree man. I love this game and think it really deserves recognition.
Well congrats to Game Science but I gotta say that this is pretty undeserved. Black Myth Wukong isn't a BAD game by any means but it is an incredibly mid one.
Floaty combat, basic level design, nonexistant pacing, wildly inconsistent difficulty, and invisible walls galore. I mean the list goes on and on. A game with only half the problems of Wukong probably wouldn't be worthy of GOTY, but gamers seem to love it for whatever the reason. Like Alan Wake 2, I guess I'll just have to chalk this one up to being "not for me"
Would have loved a difficulty setting option, then I might have been able to make an informed decision - had I seen more of the game.
Glad people turned out to support BMW. Much deserved sales & accolades.
IDK that it deserves GOTY or not, but I can't say it's not a deserving game of the award either. Popularity contest for a crazy popular game in China or not, the game really is seriously good. When all indications are that Keighley, Inc. plans to nominate a DLC that's just more content for 2 years ago's GOTY, it makes it even harder to say this doesn't deserve it, as it's no less competent a game, and while it doesn't break any new ground, it's still a unique blend of attributes that I can't say feels like any other particular game.
@RoomWithaMoose I think it's a game you have to play it to get it. It doesn't do anything new or unprecidented or break new ground, but it puts together a lot of well liked concepts from a lot of games, puts them together very competently, is dripping with atmosphere, and most importantly as an action combat game, just feels incredible to control. IMO I think that's the main thing that makes this game feel so much better than its "objective" critiques is that the feel of actually controlling the game is just addictive, and it's a subtle quality that is the most important quality in a video game most studios not called Nintendo tend to forget. I'm not like a super "OMG best game ever" fan of the game, and the "hard because hard" genre isn't really even my genre at all (not a big From or Team Ninja fan really), but I have to say the game is just addictive, and I find myself thinking about it and wanting to go on "just a little bit more" and I think it all comes down to the feel. It just FEELS good to play it. Like one car vs another, it's all about the handling.
IMO it handles better than Stellar Blade which is a decent game but super overrated, and the only thing that saves it from being "just a Nier Automata Clone with Souls mechanics" is the fact that it openly acknowledges it, leans into it, and actually teamed up for a crossover. Replace the hot jiggly girls in dressup clothes with brooding teenage emo dudes and that game would lose MOST of its following, even though it's a decent game by any measure.
Good game. This is fan voted so it's good that those who've played it, like it.
But don't let this distract you from the fact that Dark Cloud 2/Dark Chronicle 2 released 22 years ago on my 21st birthday (November 28).
I'm about to be 43 and I've still not been delivered the 3rd installment of this wonderful franchise! Since it's release, I've graduated college, had 2 kids, gotten married (I'm Black. We do it kids first, then marriage lol). Bought a house, watch my 49ers lose 3 Super Bowls, and lost 1 granddad, 3 uncles, and a brother. So yeah, it's been a lot! Just give me Dark Cloud 3, please...
Not even close to GOTY worthy, its good and at times very good but it has way too many issues especially on PS5 to be GOTY. Also in my opinion Stellar Blade was the better asian action game this year and it actually performs and looks like a dream on PS5/Pro.
I don't have any objection for Wu Kong winning GotY despite my personal choice for Rebirth or Astro Bot. At least it's not a DLC.
But it's nice to see Helldivers 2, Astro Bot, and FF VII Rebirth won some category which is a clear sign that PS5 did really well in 2024.
I can see next year will be Ghost of Yotei and Death Stranding 2 got nominated for GotY too. But we all know GTA 6 will win everything which is kinda sad really...
It was a great game and one of my favorites this year but my vote would go to Astro Bot
I'm looking forward to playing this - very happy to see the physical version coming soon.
As a side note, I found it funny that AstroBot won best audio, as that was the precise reason I couldn't even sit through the gameplay video. Cutesy robot sounds are weird, and Silent Hill 2's audio was a masterclass in audio world building. Just some random aging gamer's opinion.
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