Black Myth: Wukong director shares disappointment after losing out on Game of the Year at The Game Awards

Feng Ji, CEO of Game Science and director of Black Myth: Wukong, has released a statement on social media expressing his disappointment that the game lost to Astro Bot for Game of the Year.

The details:

• At The Game Awards 2024, Team Asobi's PlayStation platformer Astro Bot took home Game of the Year, defeating Balatro, Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Metaphor: ReFantazio, and Black Myth. Despite losing out on the award, Game Science's action RPG still won in the Best Action Game and Players' Voice categories.
• However, in a new post on Chinese social media platform Weibo (translation via Reddit), Feng Ji expressed dissatisfaction with the game's performance at the show. Although he found winning the Players' Voice award "gratifying," the director hinted that he feels it was snubbed for GOTY. "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,” he wrote. “I feel like I came all the way here for nothing!"
• The CEO went on to say that he wrote an acceptance speech for GOTY two years ago, "only to never get the chance to deliver it." While it is unclear whether Feng Ji was joking, as the message's overall tone may have been lost in translation, fans have interpreted the comments as the director being a sore loser and even "disrespectful" of Team Asobi.
• According to former Santa Monica Studio writer Alanah Pearce, an unnamed Game Science employee was seen crying at the show after Black Myth lost out to Astro Bot. "It’s definitely unusual,” Pearce said. “It clearly meant a lot to them; they did an amazing thing, but I did find that surprising."

More news from The Game Awards:

• FromSoftware has announced Elden Ring: Nightreign, a new co-op Elden Ring spin-off that is coming to PC and consoles next year, with a beta test beginning in February.
• Naughty Dog has revealed its next project, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, which follows a bounty hunter as she tries to escape a secluded planet cut off from civilization