After nearly a year of waiting, Game Science has finally pulled back the curtain on Black Myth: Zhong Kui. The studio dropped a 15-minute gameplay trailer today, August 20, giving us our first proper look at the game in action. Unlike the CG teaser and non-canon Chinese New Year short that came before it, this time we're seeing the real thing: combat, exploration, bosses, and a much clearer picture of how different Zhong Kui will be from Wukong.
Fittingly, the timing isn't an accident. Game Science has used August 20 as a recurring date to update players on the Black Myth series, including Wukong's launch and now Zhong Kui's first real gameplay reveal.
A New Protagonist, A New Fighting Style
The biggest headline from the footage: you won't be playing a monkey this time. The trailer makes that immediately clear — Zhong Kui trades Wukong's staff-and-acrobatics combat for something built around a sword and martial arts. The footage suggests a combat system built around dodges, counters, and more deliberate, weighty attacks, giving it a noticeably different rhythm from Wukong's faster, more acrobatic style.
One of the clearest changes spotted in the footage is what appears to be a dedicated parry mechanic, something that wasn't a core part of Wukong's standard combat system. If that holds true in the final game, it would represent a real structural shift in how combat is meant to be played, rather than simply a reskin of Wukong's formula.
The sword also appears to interact with elemental effects, including fire, while paper talismans appear to expand the protagonist's combat toolkit. Later, a dark substance or effect appears during a boss encounter, though its exact gameplay function isn't clear yet from the trailer alone.
What Else Showed Up in the Footage
Fifteen minutes is a lot of ground to cover, and the trailer packs in a surprisingly wide mix of content beyond the headline combat reveal:
A young swordsman traveling through a forest alongside an elderly companion
Multiple potential boss encounters
The protagonist playing traditional Chinese music with an ensemble
A quieter character moment showing a woman applying makeup to a man
What appears to be a spirit-catching activity
Walking, mushroom-like creatures and other strange spirits, including one shown bathing in a boiling pot
The trailer's closing shot: a figure — almost certainly Zhong Kui himself — riding a massive tiger-like beast across the landscape
There's also a mid-trailer switch to what looks like a hooded swordsman during one of the boss fights. That has already fueled speculation that Zhong Kui might feature more than one playable character, although the trailer provides no confirmation of that. It's the kind of detail that will likely be picked apart in the weeks following a reveal this substantial.
Built on Unreal Engine 5 — And It Shows
Game Science says the footage comes from a work-in-progress build captured at 21:9, meaning the final game may differ from what's shown here. The footage has already drawn strong reactions for its visual fidelity, with comments under Game Science's own posts comparing the presentation to "a Netflix movie" and multiple outlets noting the improvements in fidelity and animation quality over Wukong — itself widely praised for its visual presentation.
The trailer also gives a better sense of how much detail Game Science is putting into the environments, character animation, combat effects, lighting, and overall atmosphere. The combination of detailed environments and more elaborate effects makes Zhong Kui look visually distinct even while retaining the cinematic presentation that defined Wukong.
For context on how far this project has come: when Zhong Kui was first revealed at Gamescom Opening Night Live in August 2025, Game Science had so little to show that it released a CG short instead of any actual gameplay footage, openly describing the project as "little more than an empty folder" at the time. Consistent with the studio's stated philosophy of wanting to "impress ourselves first" before showing players more, that slow, guarded rollout has defined the project's public presence ever since.
A non-canon, six-minute Chinese New Year special followed in February 2026 — an in-engine short centered around a cooking and celebratory scenario rather than gameplay. Today's trailer is the first time the game has actually looked like a game.
Still No Release Date — And a Long Wait Might Be Coming
Here's the catch: despite the leap in visual quality, Game Science has not announced a release date or release window, beyond confirming PC and "all mainstream console platforms," with final platform information to be confirmed closer to release.
Some outlets have speculated that Zhong Kui could still be several years away, with 2028 floated as one possible target. Game Science, however, has not announced a release year, and there is currently no official basis for treating 2028 as anything more than speculation.
For scale on what's riding on this follow-up, Black Myth: Wukong has reportedly surpassed 30 million copies sold worldwide, according to a Chinese report published in June — a massive commercial milestone for Game Science as it moves into its next Black Myth project.
The Bottom Line
After a year of almost nothing, Black Myth: Zhong Kui finally feels like a real game rather than a promise. New protagonist, new fighting style, a major visual showcase, and a mythological figure — the demon-slaying deity Zhong Kui — with plenty of story potential to draw from.
More importantly, the trailer makes it clear that Game Science isn't simply trying to recreate Wukong with a different protagonist. The sword-focused combat, apparent parry system, strange new creatures, varied encounters, and broader world presentation point toward a game with its own identity.
The wait for an actual release date, though, looks like it's just getting started.
What do you make of the shift away from Wukong's acrobatic combat toward something heavier and sword-focused? Let us know in the comments, and stay tuned as more details on Black Myth: Zhong Kui emerge.