Author: Haiqing Yu, Professor, School of Media and Communication, RMIT University

Blockbuster Chinese video game Black Myth: Wukong sold more than 10 million copies within days of its release last month, and its success has been hailed as a soft-power win for the Asian superpower. However, as a Chinese idiom states, “the intention of the drunkard lies not on the wine, but on other purposes”. China’s push into the gaming industry also serves a “harder” kind of power: the drive to bolster domestic chip manufacturing in the wake of US semiconductor export restrictions aimed at hobbling Chinese AI research. Blockbuster gaming with Chinese characteristics Set in the world of Ming dynasty…