The success of China’s first AAA premium game based on the literary character of the Monkey King from the 16th century Chinese novel Journey to the Westis also leading to a travel boom in parts of the country, according to local authorities and companies.
Gaming hotels offer guests a comfortable way to escape from everyday life and play games. In addition to the usual amenities, the rooms feature special gaming equipment such as high-end PCs with fast internet connections, game consoles and controllers, and virtual reality equipment.
Hotel chain Wanyoo eSports has hit the jackpot since the game’s release, with many branches selling out over the past week despite raising room rates to more than double normal levels.
Each room of the hotel company has a PC with a high-performance graphics card that costs about 20,000 yuan ($2,807). The setup is popular with thousands of young gamers who want to get a taste of the world of gaming. Black Myth before the end of their summer holidays.
At a Wanyoo hotel on Changshou Road in Shanghai, a double room has cost more than 700 yuan per night since August 20, an increase of over 100 percent from around 300 yuan previously. Black Myth: Wukong‘s debut.
A front desk manager who asked not to be named said that to attract more gamers, the hotel will upgrade its gaming hardware and replace Nvidia 4070 graphics cards with the 4090 model in the hotel’s 28 rooms in the coming weeks.
Prices for a shared room in the hotel are up to 800 yuan. But when the new school year starts in September, the hotel will lose customers, the manager said.
“That’s why we decided to upgrade the hardware to increase our appeal to (working adults),” he said. “The blockbuster video game has given a big boost to hotels, especially those that cater to e-sports fans. Now more people know they can save on hardware costs by renting a hotel room for video games.”
JJ Kong, a Shanghai resident in her early 40s, booked a room at Wanyoo on Wednesday.
“I want to try it, but I’m not going to be obsessed with it,” she said. “Buying a hotel room for a two- or three-day stay sounds like a good option to me.”
The best-selling game has already boosted tourism to locations featured in the game’s storyline. The game uses 36 scenic locations across China as its backdrop, 27 of them in Shanxi province alone. And searches for Shanxi province increased by more than 10 percent on the day of the game’s release compared to the day before, Trip.com reported.
Search volume increased by 20 percent in cities such as Datong and Shuozhou, while some temple sites such as Xiaoxitian in Shanxi saw a significant increase in bookings. Many tourists have shared their experiences of visiting the ancient buildings featured in the game.
Since Monday, sales of Black Myth over 15.4 million copies, with the title’s revenue on the video game platform Steam totaling more than $737 million, according to market research firm Video Game Insights.
