(Yicai) Feb. 28 -- China’s National Press and Publication Administration has issued 111 new video game licenses, including one to the highly-anticipated Black Myth: Wukong.

Developed by Game Science Interactive Technology, Black Myth: Wukong is an action role-playing game rooted in Chinese mythology, with the story based on Journey to the West, one of China’s four great classical novels.

The first 13-minute demo video of Black Myth: Wukong drew worldwide attention when it was released in 2020. Expected to be launched on Steam and consoles in August, the game will become China’s first AAA game, a classification that indicates a high-budget, high-profile game produced and distributed by a well-known publisher, which is the equivalent of a blockbuster in the movie industry.

Game Science was founded in 2014 by former employees of Chinese gaming giant Tencent Holdings. In 2021, the year after the release of the demo of Black Myth: Wukong, Tencent bought a 5 percent stake in Game Science.

Other titles that received licenses this month are Operation Apocalypse, a shooting game developed by NetEase, and four games of Zqgame, including the card game Jiuzhou Yuanyi Song.

New licenses will continue to rise this year to boost the supply side of the game industry, China Galaxy Securities estimated in a research report released today. Investors should pay attention to head game developers with strong research and development capabilities and rich game reserves.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Futura Costaglione