Research on the Role and Impact of Video Games on the
Development of the Tourism Industry: Take Black Myth Wukong as
an Example
Yiwen Zhang
Liberal Arts Education and Art Media College, Xiamen Institute of Technology, Xiamen, Fujian, China
Keywords: Video Game, Tourist Trade, Trans-Culture Communication.
Abstract: With the advent of the era of digital culture, the role of video games as a medium for the integration of cultural
communication and tourism has attracted wide attention. This paper takes Black Myth: Wukong as an example
to explore the role and impact of video games on the development of the tourism industry. The results show
that the game significantly promotes the players' interest in Chinese traditional culture through the
communication of immersive cultural symbols; policy coordination and technological experience innovation
can effectively drive tourism consumption, but the high cost of technological adaptation restricts the
development. Based on this, it is suggested to improve cross-sectoral policy coordination, reduce technical
costs, strengthen the cultural penetration of non-player groups, and establish a cultural audit mechanism to
enhance the accuracy of communication.
1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background
In recent years, China has elevated its cultural
confidence to a national strategic level, and since the
18th National Congress of the Communist Party of
China, the central government has attached great
importance to promoting the "going out" of Chinese
culture. It also proposed to promote the integration
and development of E-sports and the game
entertainment industry, emphasizing the "integration
of culture and tourism". Encourage the dissemination
of traditional culture through innovative forms such
as games, film, and television (Ministry of Culture
and Tourism, 2021). The national self-confidence and
pride of the younger generation after 1990 and 2000
have been improved, and they are more and more
interested in the traditional culture. Globally, with the
promotion of China's international status and
discourse power, international friends began to be
curious about China. In developed countries, video
games started to develop earlier, and well-made 3A
games emerged in an endless stream, while in China,
they are still in the stage of progress and
development. However, with the advent of the
electronic digital age, the game industry has gradually
become one of the important ways of cultural output
(Cheng & Wang, 2025). The popularity of the
Assassin's Creed series of games has led to a sharp
rise in the search volume of Egypt, the scene of the
game, which has led to the development of local
tourism and verified the driving effect of the game on
tourism (Shuhua, et al., 2024). In this context, the first
3A game in China, Black Myth: Wukong, relies on
Unreal Engine 5, Frost Engine, and other
technologies to promote the game centered on the
Ming Dynasty novel Journey to the West. With its
exquisite pictures and touching stories, it has become
popular all over the world, and many players have
even begun to make their golden hoop sticks, showing
the unique charm and global influence of Chinese
culture, and becoming a typical case of cultural
communication and tourism innovation.
Games give new life to traditional culture and
inject fresh blood. Integrating Chinese aesthetics into
the virtual scene not only enhances the visual effect
of the game, but also enhances the interest of players
in traditional Chinese ancient buildings (Tan et al.,
2022). Game has become an important means of
"breaking the circle" of traditional culture, which
proves that Chinese culture can be spread globally
using digital means, and provides a new mode of
"game-culture-flow-tourism-consumption" for the
322
Zhang, Y.
Research on the Role and Impact of Video Games on the Development of the Tourism Industry: Take Black Myth Wukong as an Example.
DOI: 10.5220/0013991100004916
Paper published under CC license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)
In Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Public Relations and Media Communication (PRMC 2025), pages 322-327
ISBN: 978-989-758-778-8
Proceedings Copyright © 2025 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda.

linkage of "game + cultural tourism". Taking game IP
as a flow incision, reshaping the image of travel
destination, opening up the popularity of the
destination, attracting young tourists, breaking the
pain point of "static tourism" and the dilemma of
"aging tourists", greatly promoting the tourism fever
of the relevant areas and promoting the local
economic development. Moreover, it also provides a
new way for cultural heritage and dissemination. It
has made China from a "big country of cultural
resources" to a "powerful country of cultural export",
and has enhanced China's international influence and
discourse power. At the same time, it also provides a
reference experience for other developing countries.
Combining video games with tourism is a
relatively new theme, and the current policy of "game
+ cultural tourism" in China is still in the exploratory
stage. Most of the existing studies focus on the cases
of Europe, America, Japan, and South Korea, such as
Japan's Monster Watch, which drives tourism growth
by 15% through local linkage. Due to the late
development of domestic 3A games, there is a lack of
well-made games with a story core and beautiful and
smooth pictures. As a result, the policy research on
the localization mechanism of domestic games is
insufficient, which leads to the lack of a theoretical
basis for the introduction of policies. For the cultural
communication mechanism of domestic games, the
government, scenic spots, and game companies have
coordinated policies, and the application potential of
tourism paths and tourism VR technology is at a blank
stage. But the emergence and rise of Black Myth:
Goku has made up for this lack, with a 9.2 rating
among overseas Steam players and a 9.0 rating on
IGN, which proves that its spread effect overseas is
extraordinary. At the same time, it provides a unique
platform for research on how to jointly promote the
development of tourism and economic growth with
scenic spots.
Based on this, this study mainly takes "Black
Myth: Wukong" as a case to explore the explosion of
online games in the era of digital culture, the
transformation of cultural symbols contained in them
into global communication and tourism, the driving
and limitations of government cross-sectoral
coordination policies, and the development of
tourism; The development and experience upgrade of
AR technology is a framework to explore the role and
impact of video games on the development of tourism
industry.
2 METHOD & RESULT
2.1 Study Design
This study uses a questionnaire survey, case study,
and literature study to analyze.
2.1.1 Questionnaire
At present, through the observation of the integration
case in 2023, Su Jing and Yang Yifan know that under
the background of the continuous progress of digital
technology, the video game and the cultural tourism
industry in the digital transformation will gradually
cooperate and develop, forming an innovative
integration path of "game + cultural tourism"; Taking
"Original God" as an example, this paper discusses
the game's role in enhancing the soft power of
Chinese culture and the development of tourism, and
finds that "Original God" not only enhances the soft
power of Chinese culture. It also makes many players
interested in Chinese culture and scenic spots,
prompting them to visit on the spot (Skora, 2023).
Based on the existing research, this paper uses the
questionnaire survey method, takes the online
platform as the channel, through the questionnaire
star, the game forum, the traveling community
collection investigation player community and the
potential tourist to the game popularity, the
participation, to the cultural element recognition
which in the game covers, because the game produces
traveling interest and so on. To analyze whether video
games and their digital derivatives can promote the
development of the tourism industry. In this study, the
linear regression, frequency, and correlation of the
common methods in the SPASS platform will be used
for data analysis. Finally, 230 questionnaires were
collected, 211 of which were valid, with an effective
rate of 91. 7%. The results of the survey will provide
an important basis for understanding how video
games promote cultural communication and tourism
development.
2.1.2 Case Study
This study chooses Xiaoxitian in Xixian County, one
of the thirty-six scenes of Black Myth: Wukong, as a
typical case to analyze the impact of Black Myth
before and after its explosion. Xixian Xiaoxitian is a
Zen Buddhist temple with a history of more than 400
years. It has great artistic value, but because it is
located in the inland mountainous area, the traffic is
relatively inconvenient, and the main source of
tourists is pilgrims and a small number of cultural
Research on the Role and Impact of Video Games on the Development of the Tourism Industry: Take Black Myth Wukong as an Example
323

enthusiasts from Shanxi Province and neighboring
provinces. After the exposure of the suspected scene
in the game from Xiaoxitian in Xixian County, the
popularity of social media has soared, and the
popularity has moved from the regional level to the
national and international level. The explosion of
"Black Myth: Wukong" has brought unprecedented
opportunities for the development of Xiaoxitian
tourism in Xixian County.
2.2 Study Results
2.2.1 Global Communication and
Transformation of Tourism
According to the survey, the interest of players in
Chinese culture has increased after experiencing
Black Myth, and has been transformed into tourism
consumption. 97. 37% of the players said that after
playing the game, their interest in Chinese culture has
increased. Among them, 53. 63% of the players
expressed a significant increase in interest in Chinese
culture. The players who have searched or learned
about China's tourist attractions because of the game
is as high as 87. 89%. It shows that the popularity of
the game has begun to translate into cultural flow.
Moreover, the number of players who plan to
travel to China and whose destinations are related to
games has reached 69. 9%. According to the linear
regression analysis of "whether your interest in
Chinese mythological culture has increased after
playing games?" And "whether you plan to travel to
China in the next three years?", it can be seen that
there is a positive correlation between the interest in
mythology and the willingness to travel (R = 0.129, p
< 0.01), and 54. 55% of non-gamers said that even if
they were not interested in the game, they still wanted
to go to the scene of the game. It shows that the
picture and story content of the game can stimulate
the audience's desire to travel, and the attraction of the
picture and story content to people has exceeded the
game itself, and the popularity of the game has
become a cultural flow (Cai et al., 2022).
According to Weibo's topic about the 300%
increase in the number of visitors to # Black Myth
locations and Sina News, Black Myth: Wukong has
brought fire to many locations in Shanxi. Among
them, Xixian Xiaoxitian is located in the inland
mountainous area, with relatively inconvenient
transportation, and its popularity is mainly limited to
the surrounding areas. Tourist reception is maintained
at a low level all year round, the structure of tourism
income is single, mainly ticket income, the tourism
industry chain is short, and the surrounding
supporting service facilities are not perfect. But
because of a line in the game that "the land of
Xiaoxitian is here to welcome the destiny of heaven",
a large number of game players and cultural explorers
came to admire it, and the number of visitors
increased geometrically in a short time. The staff of
the tourist center of the scenic spot said that the flow
of people increased by 200% to 300% compared with
last year. The flow brought by games for culture has
begun to change to tourism consumption, and video
games can drive the development of the tourism
industry.
2.2.2 Driven by Coordinated Policies
There is a certain degree of correlation between the
government's support policies for game-derived
tourism and the promotion of players' interest in
destination tourism (Sch Schönherr et al., 2023). This
study uses the SPASS platform to test the Pearson
correlation coefficient of the two dimensions of
cultural tourism policy support and tourism interest
promotion, and analyzes the strength of their
correlation. The results show that the correlation
coefficient between these two dimensions is 0.259,
and showed a significant level of 0.01, thus indicating
that there is a significant positive correlation between
them. In addition, this study found that 90.91% of the
respondents who had played Black Myth: Wukong
knew about the relevant policies, while only 66.67%
of the respondents who had not played it knew about
them. It shows that players who understand the policy
will be more willing to travel. Therefore, more perfect
policy support will enhance the interest of players in
tourism.
2.2.3 Innovation of Experience
The survey results show that innovative experiences
can improve interest in tourism. 95.41% of the
respondents said they wanted to experience the AR
experience hall when traveling to the game
destination. It shows that the AR experience hall has
a high attraction in game destination travel and may
become a highlight of future travel (Samaddar &
Mondal, 2024). And 95.92% of the objects expressed
their willingness to experience virtual tasks combined
with AR, and developed the "Virtual Journey to the
West" meta-universe platform. Players can exchange
tickets or limited commodities for real scenic spots by
completing tasks online (such as defeating the Yellow
Wind Monster). The pilot data showed that the
repurchase rate increased by 20%. It shows that the
experience of combining games and realistic scenic
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spots can enhance tourists' interest in mythological
culture and tourism (Nuanmeesri, 2022).
3 EXISTING PROBLEMS
3.1 Lack of Representation and
Cooperation
At present, the joint IP of scenic spots is mostly short-
term cooperation with the current heat
implementation. If it wants to use games to improve
the popularity of scenic spots and implement
sustainable development, it needs to unite games
related to scenic spots to create a unique IP. Make the
IP image deeply rooted in the hearts of the people and
become the synonym of tourist attractions (Li &
Wang, 2025). Of all respondents, 91.33% of the
respondents chose to go to scenic spots with
authorized development cooperation of game IP, and
even among the respondents who played Black Myth:
Wukong, the proportion reached 90. 08%. It shows
the importance of innovative IP in promoting the
integration of games and tourism and enhancing the
popularity of scenic spots. There is also a lack of
linkage with other related locations that are also the
scene of "Black Myth", such as the joint launch of
"Journey to the West" by Japan and South Korea,
which only stays at the stage of anticipation and has
not been substantially pushed forward. The results of
the questionnaire show that only 43. 37% of the
respondents support the policy of transnational
cooperation, reflecting the lack of confidence in the
market.
3.2 High Cost of Technology
Adaptation
Scenic spots want to provide a better experience for
tourists, but the cost of upgrading technology is a big
problem. The survey results show that 52.94% of the
respondents want to experience AR in the game
destination. However, at present, it has not been fully
popularized. If people want to use AR, people need to
pay the cost of developers, art designers, testers, and
operators; they need to buy AR glasses, cameras,
sensors, etc. They need to maintain and upgrade the
AR guide system and train the staff. It is difficult for
small and medium-sized scenic spots to address the
shortage of funds. At the same time, it also shows that
the low coverage of the AR navigation system and the
difficulty of technical implementation are the main
obstacles.
3.3 Disclosure of Personal Privacy
There is a risk of personal information leakage when
tourists use scanning code to buy tickets or voice
guide service in scenic spots, such as stay time,
location, WeChat and nickname (Wang, 2022). In the
era of big data, there are endless incidents of profiting
from the leakage of users' personal information, and
users' personal information on the Internet is
threatened. This kind of network security problem
may cause tourists the fear of tourists, which is not
conducive to the development of tourism.
3.4 Insufficient Cultural Penetration of
Non-Player Groups
According to the survey data, the player group of
Black Myth is 60.2%, and the non-player group is
39.8%. And 88.75% of non-players are interested in
games because of game derivative content (such as
short videos, community discussions). In the short
video, 54.55% of the people who are interested in the
scene of the game because of the pictures and story
content of Black Myth are still not interested in the
game. Because the path of comprehensive analysis of
cultural penetration is incomplete, the existing
policies mostly focus on how to convert player groups
into traffic for tourism consumption, but do not
analyze how to convert non-player groups (such as
short video users) into tourists. If it only focuses on
the transformation of players and ignores the non-
player groups, so that the source of tourists is too
single, the transformation and upgrading of the
follow-up tourism industry may lack sustained
momentum.
3.5 The Challenge of Cultural
Transmission and Acceptance
According to the survey report, 87.76% of the
respondents believed that "misunderstanding caused
by cultural differences" was the main challenge of
cross-border tourism cooperation. For example, the
simplified adaptation of the image of "Yellow Wind
Monster" in "Black Myth: Wukong" has caused
controversy among some players, who believe that
the image deviates from the original spirit of "Journey
to the West". This kind of deviated communication
may weaken the seriousness of cultural symbols and
lead to the one-sided understanding of Chinese
traditional culture by international audiences.
Despite the global attraction of symbols such as
"Monkey King" and "Wuxing Mountain" in games,
the questionnaire survey shows that the proportion of
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interest in Chinese culture among groups who have
not played games is 39.13%, which is significantly
lower than that of players (60.33%), indicating that
the acceptance of symbols by non-players depends on
external media and lacks the motivation to explore
culture actively.
4 COUNTERMEASURES
4.1 Policy Coordination and
Optimization
First of all, it should pay attention to improving the
top-level design, planning full-time responsible
departments, issuing clear provisions of authority,
and forming a more complete development path.
In addition, it should pay attention to the use of
big data to form scientific construction. To help
scenic spots establish a "Chinese tourism drama IP
database", it is suggested that game companies
synchronize the data into the database while updating
the content of the game version and IP image, and
share them with scenic spots. Let the game company
and the scenic spot connect the destiny community,
carry forward the traditional culture, and let the
Chinese culture go to the world. To formulate and
promulgate the Regulations on the Administration of
Digital IP Authorization, standardize copyright
protection and dispute resolution mechanisms, and
protect the legitimate rights and interests of both
parties.
Hold the "East Asian Cultural Tourism Seminar",
establish the "Cultural Tourism the Belt and Road",
establish a diversified financing system to provide
financial support for project construction, strengthen
cultural exchanges through people-to-people
communication, enhance friendship and mutual
understanding among peoples, lay a solid foundation
of public opinion for cooperation, and promote
common development and achieve win-win
cooperation for common prosperity (Jing, 2024).
4.2 Reduce Technology Costs
Small and medium-sized scenic spots are facing key
development opportunities, so they should seize the
opportunity as soon as possible. Set up a special fund
to provide free AR guides, encourage science and
technology enterprises to transport free technicians,
and solve technical problems. The fund will also help
scenic spots cooperate with game companies, open up
new profit points, and strengthen economic security.
In addition, it should promote low-cost multi-
language adaptation schemes and use AI real-time
translation plug-ins to open up major overseas
markets such as Japan, Korea, and Britain, to enhance
the international competitiveness of scenic spots.
4.3 Visitor Data Anonymization
It has promulgated a security policy on tourist data,
forcing enterprises to anonymize tourist data and
prohibiting the sale of information for profit. Every
year, the Bureau of Culture and Tourism conducts
random checks on the compliance and anonymity of
the use of tourist data in scenic spots, such as dealing
with violations according to law, to protect the rights
and interests of tourists and promote the healthy
development of tourism.
4.4 Strengthen the Cultural
Penetration of Non-Player Groups
Launching "Black Myth" related story videos on
popular short video social platforms such as TikTok
and Station B can effectively reach potential
audiences interested in Chinese culture, stimulate
their interest with wonderful plots, and immerse them
in it. The joint game scenic spot launched the
"Tianming Interactive Stage Performance", which
can attract this part of non-player groups to travel and
consume, realize the transformation from content
dissemination to cultural tourism consumption,
improve the cultural penetration path, and help the
wide dissemination of Chinese culture and game IP.
4.5 Improve the Correctness and
Acceptance of Cultural
Communication
To formulate policies related to the adaptation of
historical and cultural figures in games, strictly
regulate the direction of adaptation, protect the spirit
of the original works, avoid arbitrary distortion of
character settings, and ensure that history and culture
are correctly presented in games. Set up a cross-
domain "cultural elements audit team" to control the
authenticity of the game content culture in an all-
around way, and ensure that the game becomes a
high-quality carrier for the dissemination of history
and culture. Using tremolo, microblog, and other
platforms to push the game analysis of "Black Myth",
continuously stimulate the interest of non-players in
the game and its cultural connotation, broaden the
boundaries of cultural communication, and let more
people feel the charm of Chinese culture.
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5 CONCLUSION
This study takes Black Myth: Wukong as a case to
explore the role and impact of video games on the
development of the tourism industry. Its core value
lies in transforming virtual symbols into real tourism
flow through immersive experience, but it needs to
solve the problems of policy coordination, high
technology cost, and cultural communication audit
mechanism. In the future, the synergy between games
and tourism needs to shift from "short-term following
hot spots" to "long-term ecological interaction",
through the study of the universal design of cross-
cultural symbols, the long-term adjustment of policy
tools, and the sustainable path of technology
integration, to promote Chinese cultural tourism to
achieve a leap from "resource output" to "mode
output" in global competition. At the same time, it
provides theoretical support and a practical model for
the global "game + cultural tourism" model.
This study deepens the theoretical understanding
of games as a medium of cultural communication,
provides practical strategies for the government,
enterprises, and scenic spots through data and policy
analysis, and promotes the economic growth of
tourism. Video games are not only entertainment
products, but also a milestone in the transformation of
traditional culture to modern culture, a strategic tool
for cultural dissemination, industrial upgrading, and
national soft power enhancement, and a new business
card for China to participate in global cultural
competition.
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