SINGAPORE, Oct 21 — It seems that Singapore senior minister Lee Hsien Loong has paid attention to Chinese video game Black Myth: Wukong, to the point of even watching clips of gamers playing it.
Speaking at a fireside chat even during the recent FutureChina Global Forum 2024 in Singapore, Lee said that despite that, he did not think that he would be any good at playing the fast-paced game.
“Black Myth is a high-level computer game. I wouldn’t play it. I went online to watch some videos on YouTube, and the action is very fast.
“The moves come and go so quickly that I can’t even see what’s happening, and suddenly one side has already lost,” he told the host on Friday.
Transcript of his chat was made available to the public.
Lee said if he were to play as the main character to fight monsters or demons, he would not be able to keep up.
“There’s no hope for me. It’s better to leave it to the gaming experts while I maintain my peaceful state of mind,” he said.
Lee was initially asked if he plays online games now that he is no longer prime minister, to which he replied he has heard of Black Myth: Wukong.
He was then asked if he would encourage his granddaughter to play the game, since Singaporean students often find learning Chinese very difficult and the video game may help with this.
“My granddaughter is still too young for this. When she reaches the appropriate age, she will probably be interested. But usually, boys are the ones who enjoy these kinds of fighting games,” Lee added.
He added that playing the game — which has Sun Wukong as the main character — may actually get youths interested in exploring Journey to the West.
However, he cautioned that playing must be in moderation: “When it’s time to stop, you must stop.”
Launched in August this year, Black Myth: Wukong saw 2.4 million concurrent players at its peak, ranking the game at the second-most all-time concurrent players to date.
