Two recent developments in China’s games industry have put overseas market expansion in the spotlight. On October 29, Yang Qi, co-founder of Game Science and art director of Black Myth: Wukong, shared insights into the game’s overseas player base during a talk at the China Academy of Art. Days earlier, Moonton unveiled the format and host cities for the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) M8 World Championship, confirming that the main tournament stage will be held in Europe.
According to media coverage of the talk, Yang stated that overseas players now account for over 50% of the game’s total player base. The figure has sparked widespread discussion, and for understandable reason. Rooted in the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West, Black Myth: Wukong is rich with Chinese mythological figures, place names and cultural elements. While overseas players may not immediately grasp all the cultural context and origins, that has not stopped them from engaging with the title.
Back in February 2025, Yang had previously put the overseas player share at roughly 30%. Based on the two public disclosures, the proportion of players outside China has risen further. That said, a growing share does not mean all incremental sales come from overseas markets, nor can the exact number of copies sold be extrapolated from this ratio alone.
Overseas conversation around Black Myth: Wukong extends far beyond sales volume and player scale. The game’s architectural design, creature designs and narrative setting all carry distinct Chinese cultural characteristics. For the development team, getting players from different cultural backgrounds to be drawn in by the gameplay itself first, then gradually explore the story and its cultural layers, is already a highly meaningful outcome.
The second update comes from Moonton. On October 22, the company laid out plans for the MLBB M8 World Championship: the wild card stage will take place in Bangkok, Thailand from December 17 to 20, with 10 teams competing for 3 spots in the main event. The main tournament will be hosted in Istanbul, Turkey, where 16 teams will compete for a $1 million total prize pool. The knockout stage is scheduled for January 14 to 19, 2027, with the grand final held at a separate dedicated venue.
This marks the first time the main event of MLBB’s flagship M-series world championship has been staged in Europe. Historically, the tournament has been hosted primarily across Asia. Relocating the main stage to Istanbul represents not just a geographic expansion of the event footprint, but also a new set of operational challenges for organizers in terms of local audience engagement and on-site event execution.
Mobile Legends: Bang Bang has already built a substantial overseas player base. Per Moonton’s published figures, the game boasts 110 million monthly active users worldwide. The M7 World Championship held earlier this year recorded a peak concurrent viewership of over 5.68 million. For a mobile title that has been in operation for a decade, esports remains a core reason many players stay engaged with the game.
Black Myth: Wukong attracts overseas audiences through a premium single-player experience, while Mobile Legends: Bang Bang deepens its overseas presence through long-running esports operations, bringing its flagship championship to Europe for the first time. The two titles differ in gameplay and target audience, but both have built significant recognition beyond China’s borders. Looking ahead, the performance of upcoming entries in the Black Myth franchise, and the on-site and online viewership M8 draws in Europe, will remain key points to watch.
*Data aggregation is sourced from Gghubs.