What appears to be a knock-off version of the immensely popular Black Myth: Wukong has appeared on the Nintendo online store and is due to launch December 26.
Wukong Sun: Black Legend, is a 2D platformer that strongly resembles Black Myth: Wukong, at least in terms of its story description and the art used to advertise the game.
Wukong Sun: Black Legend is being developed and published by Global Game Studio. Its description on the Nintendo store reads: "Embark on an epic Journey to the West in Wukong Sun: Black Legend! 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. Explore a story inspired by Chinese mythology, filled with action-packed battles, stunning environments, and legendary foes."
This obviously sounds incredibly similar to Black Myth: Wukong, but the story is a very popular one from Chinese literature. A criminally underrated game came out back in 2010 called Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, developed by Ninja Theory, and follows a man named Monkey as he gets his companion Tripitaka back to her home through a post-apocalyptic United States infested with deadly robots.
So, the story alone isn't enough to label Wukong Sun: Black Legend a copycat, but the cover art sure is suspiciously similar to the hit Game Awards winning title. It features a monkey man with a similar hairstyle to Black Myth's, and the name is clearly very similar as well. Black Myth won the Player's Voice and Best Action Game awards, so it makes sense other studios would try to capitalize on its success.
Global Game Studio has published several other games on the Nintendo store, and I'll let you judge for yourself how legit they look. The five of them have all come out this year, only since October, and all look like variations on other popular games.
It's possible Wukong Sun: Black Legend has been developed quickly to capitalize on the success of Black Myth: Wukong, or it could have already been in development and its just the name and promotional materials that have been changed. Or, it could all just be a big coincidence.
Business Insider notes that people over on the social media site Weibo aren't too happy with Wukong Sun: Black Legend. "Hey everyone, have you heard? The stunning 'Black Myth: Wukong' has actually been copied! This really makes you speechless," writes one person. "Since Nintendo has removed pirated games from its shelves, this should also be removed," states another.
It's funny, lots of people thought Black Myth: Wukong looked like a Soulslike clone when its first trailers were released, and now it has imitators of its own.
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