Black Myth: Wukong producer on The Game Awards top prize snub: “I came all the way here for nothing!”

Black Myth: Wukong producer and Game Science CEO Feng Ji has posted a lengthy statement following the action game’s apparent snub for the top prize at this year’s The Game Awards.

“The games nominated this year were all exceptional, but honestly, I still can’t figure out what the criteria were for Game of the Year. I feel like I came all the way here for nothing!” he wrote in a post on Weibo (translated on reddit).

Black Myth: Wukong did come away with the Best Action Game and Players’ Voice awards, so he didn’t leave empty handed.

“Since last night, I’ve seen a lot of strong dissatisfaction and frustration in players’ comments – often expressed humorously or ironically, which made me laugh,” the producer continued.

“I completely understand these feelings and share the frustration, because behind these emotions lies not pain or malice, but dignity and confidence.”

Feng Ji even admitted he wrote his Game of the Year acceptance speech two years ago, “only to never get the chance to deliver it”.

It’s unclear how joking he has been in his statement, especially considering the machine translation, but some have read it as rather salty. Eurogamer has contacted Game Science for further comment.

The producer continued to express his confidence in the game and his hopes the success of Black Myth Wukong is the beginning of a new wave of high-quality, engaging games from Chinese developers.

Former Sony Santa Monica writer Alanah Pearce shared in a stream she witnessed a person from the Game Science team crying in the audience when the game didn’t win. “It clearly meant a lot to them, they did an amazing thing, but I did find that surprising,” said Pearce.

Black Myth: Wukong lost out to Astro Bot for the Game of the Year award, which also won Best Game Direction, Best Action/Adventure Game, and Best Family Game. Balatro and Metaphor: ReFantazio also came away with multiple awards.

An update for Black Myth: Wukong released last week ahead of the awards, finally bringing a much-requested map, as well as a boss rush challenge mode.

Its Xbox release is still unknown.