China Focus: After Wukong, new AAA game projects Chinese culture globally

A booth showcasing "Wuchang: Fallen Feathers" is pictured at the Bilibili World 2025 convention for digital content and creators in Shanghai, east China, July 11, 2025. (Bilibili/Handout via Xinhua)

CHENGDU, July 24 (Xinhua) -- Amid ancient bronze masks and crumbling temples, a distant chapter of China's Shu civilization now resonates globally through computer controllers and keyboards.

"Wuchang: Fallen Feathers," a game set in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), was launched globally on Thursday, capitalizing on the cultural momentum ignited by last year's release of "Black Myth: Wukong."

Even before its Thursday release, pre-orders had pushed "Wuchang: Fallen Feathers" to No. 1 on Steam's global bestseller list -- excluding free titles and Steam Deck hardware -- by Tuesday.

The game drops players into a "Soulslike" world as a plague-scarred warrior who traverses war-torn landscapes from mist-shrouded mountains to decaying temples while piecing together her lost past.

Leenzee Games, based in Chengdu, the capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, spent six years 3D-scanning dozens of ancient cultural relics found in Sichuan and beyond, from Buddhist grottoes to ancient villages, according to Jiang Min, CEO of Leenzee Games.

Local traditional arts like face-changing opera and a dance performed with splashing molten iron are also woven into the game's storytelling to enrich its cultural atmosphere.

Its ambition raises a pivotal question: Can China's gaming studios transform niche mythology into a sustained export? For Leenzee producer and Chief Technology Officer Xia Siyuan, the answer lies in cultural resonance.

"Gameplay is the backbone," he said. "But the flesh and soul of any great creation will always be cultural expression."

Xia sees the success of "Black Myth: Wukong" as more than a solo triumph. "It built replicable pipelines for Chinese games to go global," he noted, pointing to everything from distribution processes and overseas communication to technical support systems. For studios like Leenzee, such playbooks reduce learning curves while minimizing missteps.

"Still, as a creative industry, gaming requires continuous innovation in gameplay, storytelling and cultural expression," Xia added. "Fortunately, China's 5,000 years of history and rich cultural heritage offer us a deep well to draw inspiration from."

The company is a new rising star in Chengdu, which has emerged as China's new digital creative hub, with over 6,000 digital creative firms forming a thriving ecosystem in its high-tech zone.

Leenzee's neighbors include Chengdu Coco Cartoon Co., Ltd., the producer of the "Ne Zha" blockbuster series, and Tencent's "Honor of Kings" team. French video game producer Ubisoft's Chengdu studio has co-developed major titles including "Assassin's Creed" and "For Honor," bringing AAA production expertise to China's heartland.

"This cluster accelerates creative output," Jiang said. He added that in "Wuchang: Fallen Feathers," content such as art and music was completed through the collaborative efforts of over 60 upstream and downstream companies.

According to China's 2024 Game Industry Report, domestically developed games generated approximately 18.56 billion U.S. dollars in overseas revenue last year.

Jiang noted that China's talent pool and technical ecosystem for single-player console games are now reaching maturity, providing critical support for premium game development.

Industry observers say that with the successive launches of "Black Myth: Wukong" and "Wuchang: Fallen Feathers," China's single-player games are entering global markets through premium production value and genre diversity. For international players, these titles have become a gateway to China's distinctive aesthetic language and ancient mythology.

At an offline demo event, Russian player Novozholov Ilia captured this appeal: "This is my first encounter with ancient Shu culture through gaming, and everything feels incredibly fresh and fascinating. I'm captivated and eager to explore more Chinese culture through these games."

Employees of Leenzee Games work at an office in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, July 16, 2025. (Xinhua/Xue Chen)

Employees of Leenzee Games are pictured during a motion-capture session in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, July 16, 2025. (Xinhua/Xue Chen)

This undated photo shows employees of Leenzee Games scanning stone carvings in Anyue County, southwest China's Sichuan Province. (Leenzee Games/Handout via Xinhua)