China's Black Myth attracts players, brands and game-averse Communists

HONG KONG -- The biggest-ever launch of a Chinese console video game has sparked a flurry of business, both legitimate and shady, while even authorities who are typically skeptical of gaming seek to harness the enthusiasm.

Since its official global launch for the PlayStation 5 and PCs on Tuesday, the Tencent-backed single-player role playing game Black Myth: Wukong shot up the ranks of most-played titles on Steam, a PC platform. Concurrent players peaked at 2.36 million, the second-highest number of all time after another Tencent-related hit, PUBG: Battlegrounds, drew 3.26 million.