Elden Ring vs Black Myth Wukong is a fair fight on paper. Both are punishing action games with spectacular bosses. Yet they want completely different things from you, and picking the wrong one is an easy way to bounce off a great game.
Elden Ring arrived in February 2022 from FromSoftware. Black Myth: Wukong followed in August 2024 from Game Science, first on PC and PS5. Xbox players waited a full year longer, until August 2025.
Open world against six chapters
Structure is the biggest difference. Elden Ring hands you the Lands Between and lets you wander. Six main regions sprawl outward, packed with dungeons and catacombs, and you ride between them on your mount Torrent. Crucially, you can walk past almost any boss.
Wukong takes the opposite approach. It runs across six chapters, each a distinct place, from Black Wind Mountain to Mount Huaguo. Progress is mostly linear, though several chapters open into wide areas worth exploring. Calling it fully linear would be unfair, but it is not an open world either.
Build freedom against staff mastery
The combat philosophies split just as sharply. Elden Ring is a sandbox. You choose stats, weapons, spells and Ashes of War, then summon Spirit Ashes or other players when a fight goes badly. Two players can finish it having played almost unrecognisable games.
Wukong gives you one hero and one weapon, then adds depth on top. Three staff stances change your rhythm, four spell schools cover crowd control and trickery, and transformations hand you entirely new movesets. It is mastery of a single kit rather than a wardrobe of options.
Neither game offers a difficulty slider. In practice, though, Elden Ring is far more forgiving. If a boss stops you, you can leave, grow stronger and return. In Wukong a wall stays a wall, so you simply have to learn the fight. A free update in late 2024 did add a boss rush mode and chapter maps.
Reception and what came next
Critics separated them clearly. Elden Ring sits at 96 on Metacritic for consoles and 94 on PC. Wukong landed at 81 on PC and 76 on PS5, with launch performance problems dragging on an otherwise admired game. Its art and boss design still won it awards, including Steam Game of the Year.
Sales are strong on both sides, but read the numbers carefully. Elden Ring passed 30 million copies as of its last official count, while the wider series has topped 45 million. Wukong sold 20 million in its first month, and analysts put it near 25 million since. Game Science has stayed quiet, so treat higher figures as unconfirmed.
Support diverged after launch. Elden Ring received the Shadow of the Erdtree expansion, which sold over 10 million, plus the standalone Nightreign and a Switch 2 edition this August. Wukong has no released expansion. Game Science announced Black Myth: Zhong Kui instead, and that is a separate new game in very early development.
Frequently asked questions
Is Black Myth Wukong open world? No. It uses six chapters that are mostly linear, though some open into large explorable areas.
Which is harder? Both are tough, but Elden Ring lets you leave a boss and return stronger. Wukong expects you to beat the fight in front of you.
Does Wukong have DLC? Not yet. No expansion has been released or dated.
Choose Elden Ring if exploration and experimenting with builds excites you. Choose Wukong if you want a focused, spectacular six-chapter ride with some of the best boss design around. Sales and review figures here come from Bandai Namco, Game Science and published review aggregates. For a tougher challenge, try our Elden Ring Nightreign Gladius boss guide.
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