Game Science
Chinese video game developer From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Game Science (Chinese: 游戏科学; pinyin: Yóuxì Kēxué) is a Chinese video game development and publishing company founded by Feng Ji and Yang Qi in 2014. The studio is headquartered in Shenzhen and has an additional office in Hangzhou.
| |
Native name | 游科互动科技有限公司 |
|---|---|
| Company type | Private |
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | 13 June 2014 |
| Founders | Feng Ji [1] Yang Qi [1] |
| Headquarters | Shenzhen, Guangdong, China |
Key people | Feng Ji (CEO) [1] |
| Products | Black Myth: Wukong |
| Website | gamesci |
It is best known for developing the video game Black Myth: Wukong (2024).
History
Summarize
Perspective
Game Science was founded on 13 June 2014.[2] The seven founding members were former employees of Tencent and worked as developers for the massively multiplayer online game Asura at the company.[3] At the time of their studio's founding, China's mobile games market was rapidly expanding, so they made the decision to develop mobile games in order to survive as a studio.[3] Game Science, in collaboration with NetEase as publisher, developed 100 Heroes, a mobile game inspired by the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.[3] The game attracted 500 thousand players in the first month and nearly 800 thousand players in its first year.[3] Yang Qi proposed a single-player game as their next project, but the idea was shelved due to the high costs and risks for a new studio.[3] Their next mobile game would be Art of War: Red Tides.[3] In 2019, the game was acquired by Chaoxi Guangnian, a game company under ByteDance.[4] Lilith Games CEO Wang Xiwen, a former colleague of Feng Ji at Tencent, introduced Feng Ji and Hero Games CEO Daniel Wu to each other, which led to Wu investing in Game Science.[3]
During a meeting in their early days, Game Science committed to pursuing a vision of creating games that move and resonate with them personally.[3] During a speech at an art exhibition in April 2025, Feng Ji remarked that this was a core value of the studio.[5] He explained that the idea is that a project can progress effectively if game developers, as users themselves, have a better understanding of both the work and its players, but that they only represent themselves and thus must constantly experiment to find the intersection between themselves and players.[5]
The studio's vision also retained the ideas reflected in Feng Ji's 2007 article "Who Murdered Our Games?" (谁谋杀了我们的游戏),[6] which offers a critique from the perspective of a game planner, arguing that many games fail before they even leave the development stage, these failures occur when development teams lack excitement for the games they are creating, the industry has fostered a mentality where players are treated like livestock in the pursuit for engagement and profit, and the industry has a dark side characterized by capital-driven practices that alienate players and degrade their experiences.[7] In a 2024 interview with China Central Television, Feng Ji discussed this perspective, explaining that game developers such as himself and his colleagues should focus on gameplay and storytelling to captivate players but must remain cautious not to fall into capital-driven practices, emphasizing that a reasonable question to ask yourself—his standard for their products—is whether you would recommend your children, friends, and relatives to play your games with confidence.[8]
After the mobile games 100 Heroes and Art of War: Red Tides, Game Science started the development of Black Myth: Wukong in 2018.[9] The decision to develop an AAA game, according to operations director Lan Weiyi, came after the realization that there were more Steam users from China than the United States.[9] Before the development on the game began, Game Science conducted a company-wide survey that revealed that action role-playing games were the games with the longest playtimes on Steam among the staff, which led to a focus on action role-playing games for both the studio and the project.[10] Feng Ji said that this approach would allow them to better understand and empathize with players, because they themselves would be players of the types of games they were creating.[10] Game Science decided to have a team focused on mobile games and a team focused on single-player games.[11] Considerering the differences in development cycles between these two kinds of games, Feng Ji and Yang Ji sought to find a new environment appropriate for a team working on single-player games.[10] Ultimately, the Black Myth project's development team moved from Shenzhen to Hangzhou due to its "slower pace and lower living costs".[12]
In August 2020, Game Science released the first trailer of Black Myth: Wukong as a way to recruit more talent for the company.[13] At the time, the game's development team had 30 members.[13] Due to the trailer going viral, Game Science received over 10,000 resumes.[13] Some were from AAA gaming companies with candidates even from outside of China who were willing to apply for a Chinese working visa at their own cost.[13] A day after the trailer's release, there were people showing up at the door of the company asking for a job.[13] The development team expanded to 140 employees according to the game's credit list.[12]
The South China Morning Post reports that Hero Games acquired a 19% stake in Game Science through its wholly-owned subsidiary Tianjin Hero Financial Holding Technology in 2017, but sold the stake in 2022 with payment partly outstanding.[12] When asked about their ownership and relationship by VentureBeat, Hero Games chairman Dino Ying said that he could not comment on that.[14] As reported in March 2021, Tencent obtained a total stake of 5% in Game Science.[15][16] They aimed to help their former employees on some projects, but committed to not interfering with the operation and decision-making of Game Science.[15][16]
In 2023, IGN released a report that alleged a history of sexism within the company, which contained as evidence screenshots of personal posts by company figures in Chinese social media, as well as suggestive hiring posters from 2015.[17] Chinese outlets HK01, an online news portal, and GameLook, a game-industry research website, criticized IGN's report, arguing that the article uses examples taken out of context and vulgar but not sexist.[18][19] HK01 and Gamebase reported that the relevant posts had been mistranslated.[19][20] HK01 also reported that the anonymous criticism quoted by the article cannot be verified.[19] Game Science declined to address questions about the allegations.[21][22][23] On social media, Khee Hoon Chan, a co-author of the IGN article, called for online piracy and made explicit comments toward Game Science.[24][25][26] Hero Games' Dino Ying commented that Game Science tries not to get into distractions.[14]
Black Myth: Wukong was released in August 2024 and sold 20 million units in its first month,[27] making it one of the fastest-selling games of all time.[28]
In 2024, Game Science and the electric automobile maker BYD Company established a strategic partnership to digitize China's national treasures and landmarks to contribute to their protection and provide a scientific basis for future restoration work.[29][30] This involves 3D scanning in multiple provinces, starting in Shanxi which was heavily featured in Black Myth: Wukong, across all of China.[29][30]
Games and products
Game Science have made several video games.
| Year | English | Chinese | Pinyin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 100 Heroes | 百將行 | Bǎi Jiāng Xíng |
| 2016 | Art of War: Red Tides | 战争艺术：赤潮 | Zhànzhēng Yìshù: Chìcháo |
| 2024 | Black Myth: Wukong | 黑神话：悟空 | Hēishénhuà: Wùkōng |
In January 2025, Game Science published a Chinese New Year short film unveiling their official merchandise brand BLACK MYTH.[31][32][33] The brand initially focuses on Black Myth: Wukong and aims to include other content in the long term.[32][33] A dedicated team, separate from the game developers, was formed to handle the design, production, and operation of the brand.[32][33]
References
External links
Wikiwand - on
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.