Black Myth: Wukong is among the lowest-rated nominees for Game of the Year in Game Awards history.
After The Game Awards creator Geoff Keighley announced the nominees for this year’s event, online analysts quickly noted that Black Myth: Wukong is one of the lowest-rated Game of the Year nominees in the show’s 10-year history, with an 81 on Metacritic and an 82 on Opencritic.
Polygon's Fact-Check
Polygon verified this, scanning both score aggregators for every Game of the Year nominee since 2014. The only major outlier was PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, which scored a 77 on Opencritic but an 86 on Metacritic. However, it's important to note that neither site offers detailed information on score changes over time, so discrepancies between current and initial scores may exist.
Game of the Year Nominee Trends
It’s uncommon for nominees to fall below an 85 average score. Other games in this range include 2014’s Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, 2018’s Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, 2019’s Control and Death Stranding, 2020’s Ghost of Tsushima, 2021’s Resident Evil Village, and 2022’s Stray, none of which won. The lowest-rated Game of the Year winner remains 2014’s Dragon Age: Inquisition, with an 85 on Metacritic and an 88 on Opencritic.
The 2024 Nominee’s Score Trend
This year marks the first time since 2021 that the average score for Game of the Year nominees dropped below 90, with every nominee scoring under 90 in 2021.
Black Myth: Wukong's Cultural Impact
Black Myth: Wukong became a focal point of a culture war in gaming after allegations of sexism surfaced at developer Game Science in November 2023. IGN reported on accusations of “misogynistic remarks” by studio members, including CEO Feng Ji. This sparked intense debates on social media, with some right-wing figures using the game to provoke opponents. However, upon its release on August 20, most critics praised it as a visually stunning, if somewhat repetitive, action-adventure game.
