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The reveal

Black Myth: Zhong Kui was officially announced on August 19, 2025, during Gamescom Opening Night Live in Cologne, Germany. It was the show-closing reveal, presented by host Geoff Keighley. A CG teaser trailer debuted alongside the announcement.

The trailer

The Gamescom CG teaser runs about two minutes. It opens on a rain-soaked town at night. Zhong Kui rides a massive tiger through the streets, flanked by small goblin attendants. The goblins carry his enormous ghost-slaying sword — a detail drawn directly from classical Chinese paintings of the character. The atmosphere is dark, wet, and foreboding.

Zhong Kui is shown in blue-black mechanized armor with shoulder guards designed after the flying eaves of Tang Dynasty Chang'an architecture. His face is partially obscured, and the overall aesthetic is grittier and more armored than the traditional robed figure.

Audience reception

The trailer hit over 10 million views on Bilibili (China's largest video platform) within 24 hours of release. "Zhong Kui" trended on Weibo immediately after the reveal. The international reception was enthusiastic but more measured — many Western viewers were less familiar with Zhong Kui's mythology compared to the globally recognized Sun Wukong.

The reaction inside China was particularly intense. Black Myth: Wukong had turned Game Science into a source of national pride in the gaming space, and the Zhong Kui announcement was received as confirmation that Wukong was not a fluke — the studio was committed to building a major franchise around Chinese mythology.

Timing

The announcement date of August 19 was no accident. Game Science has a tradition of releasing significant content every August 20th (the anniversary of Wukong's original 2020 gameplay reveal). The Gamescom slot put it one day before that anniversary, and Feng Ji acknowledged the timing was deliberate.

What was not shown

The trailer was entirely CG — no gameplay footage. Game Science was upfront about how early the project was, describing it as "little more than an empty folder." No platforms, no release window, and no story details beyond the character of Zhong Kui himself. The honesty about the game's early state was notable; most Gamescom reveals involve games that are at least a year or two into development.