On August 20th, 2024, China made a huge impact on the video game industry by releasing Black Myth: Wukong, an Action-oriented game that takes inspiration from a Ming Dynasty book known as the Journey to the West. The game has heavy Buddhist themes and thought-provoking ideas about the nature of humanity along with incredible battles with unique creatures. While watching the incredible gameplay on YouTube, I had thought come into my head. What if the Orthodox Church had something close to this to influence the minds of the young? The path towards making a Christian game would tough and arduous in many ways.
Christianity in the modern simply does not have the dynamics of Chinese Buddhism or Modern Confucianism. It is a religion that is more interested in rituals than in achieving anything significant and innovative in its culture. Other than in Africa, Christianity is stuck in rituals and not capable of going beyond it. The demystification of the elements that govern the Earth has led Westerners into becoming obsessed with secular versions of such rituals, while clinging onto stagnant and decaying forms of industrial power. Christianity simply does not have the creative energy to put into video games.
Over a Millenium ago, it was not hard to see so many artists in the Byzantine Empire putting their energy into making such great art that showcased a love for Christ and the message he was spreading in the early days of the Roman Empire. While the realities of politics would always interfere with the passions of artists, had you put these extraordinary men in our time, they would have been fully capable of making a game that showcases their love for Christ and the way he was able to change the course of history through his teachings to the Romans.
Christianity since the 1960s has been largely more interested in trying to be cool but its essence now is ancient. The West seeks it old adversaries without any sense but in way to grab at the past without a willingness to build something that is truly new that also honors the past. As a result, Christianity cannot have any real influence on the world of video games other than being mined for opponents or visuals. However, the essence of Christianity is missing in these games. Many developers tend to be secular by nature and do not wish to rock the boat and really engage with the religion as a topic that can stand on its own.
Enter Black Myth: Wukong. While Americans may complain about the undemocratic nature of the CCP, one cannot deny how successful China has been in building its economy as well as building an alternative narrative to the stagnant Western order and give China a way to explain its unique civilization to the West. The best way to explain that civilization is through stories. That story is Journey to the West.
Black Myth: Wukong is a clear indicator that Chinese Video games are going to be influencing video games in the future. In the 1970s and early 1980s, the American video game industry was propelling the industry from its primordial nature. In the 1980s onwards, the Japanese were leading the way with revitalizing the industry and America would become more known for its development of video game software rather than hardware. However, China has become a video game juggernaut in both sales and the making of games.
Black Myth: Wukong shows that mythology does not have been hidden behind technology of past eras, it can be repurposed to breathe new life into such stories. The same thing can be done with Christianity. Instead of relying on sermons or movies, the churches should see inspiration in video game to spread the gospel and be able to make the church relevant again in the arts. That should be the main effort of the church, instead of attempting to rely on stale methods and instead embrace this great medium of video games to show the greatness of Christians on Earth through the Byzantine culture. This way, Christianity can be seen something more than just books and words on paper. I think it is important to emphasize the mediums of an particular age and video games are very important to the spread the gospels to new audiences that will be able to appreciate what is in those stories.
Byzantine-Empire.com 