In the cryptocurrency world, it is hard to have a black myth, just as it is difficult for utilitarians to have a sense of mission

Author: David, Deep Tide TechFlow

On August 20, the highly anticipated "Black Myth: Wukong" arrived as promised.

You might not play games, but you should have heard of the name "Black Myth" recently:

China's first self-developed AAA masterpiece, a shining moment for domestic game industry capabilities, cultural export of the Journey to the West theme, first-hand gameplay experience by Xinhua News reporters, and the keen co-promotion by Luckin Coffee…

Moreover, all Chinese players are eagerly hoping that Wukong can make an impact at TGA (The Game Awards), to legitimize Chinese games on the international stage and to find spiritual recognition for their gaming experience as "not electronic opium."

The domestic gaming industry professionals, players, and public opinion are in dire need of a "Black Myth: Wukong."

However, at this moment when Wukong is being widely discussed, the crypto circle is ironically absent.

In contrast, crypto games often shout "Mass Adoption," trying to showcase that they can attract more players and solve many problems of traditional games.

Any trend in the crypto circle can gain traction, and when "Black Myth" fails to spark any discussion within the circle while blockchain games wave the banner of Mass Adoption, it precisely indicates:

The crypto circle is unlikely to have a "Black Myth"; the audience for crypto products has never been real players.

As illustrated by the meme at the beginning of this article, when Wukong appears, players are eagerly anticipating when it can impact TGA; whereas when games in the crypto circle appear, Degens are actually only looking forward to when they can TGE (Token Generation Event).

Different missions and positions lead to different outcomes.

What is going on with the entire gaming or other products in the crypto industry?

Crypto Circle Dopamine vs. Black Monkey Endorphins

The absence of products with the temperament of "Black Myth" in the crypto circle largely stems from a preset notion upon entering the circle — you come here to seek dopamine.

Dopamine is a reward mechanism that provides instant gratification, cheap and easily obtainable.

In a chaotic and unordered environment, where opportunities and dangers abound… I come here to quickly make a profit, which may be the naked thought of most Degens and even practitioners after shedding their shame.

Clearly, "Black Myth" resembles a compensation mechanism for endorphins; its secretion is quite stingy and generally requires experiencing pain to obtain.

"Black Myth: Wukong" is akin to the production process of the film industry, with a long production cycle and significant initial investment. All resources and energy are long-term focused on refining the work, simply put, it's a model of not opening for four years, but when it does, it can sustain for four years.

Of course, it may also not be commercially successful, resulting in total loss.

The founder of the game science company behind the game, Feng Ji, revealed in a media interview that just to create one hour of smoothly playable game content, the development cost ranges from 15 to 20 million yuan.

This means that refining the work must be meticulous, heartfelt, and cautious, undergoing a painful trial before finally delivering the finished product to the market for testing.

There is no short-term dopamine feedback; all pain is for the moment of delivering the product.

Image: Black Myth's main creator Feng Ji once made a self-deprecating short film, indicating that he was beaten black and blue for not creating what players wanted.

In this comparison, you will find that "Black Myth" is truly about building a project, prioritizing the product and placing profits afterward;

While most crypto games prioritize assets first, with products placed afterward, waving the banner of "solving traditional game problems," they create more issues, such as token death spirals, lack of gameplay, and rug pulls.

This cannot all be blamed on the game project teams.

You came here to seek profits; the investing VCs are also looking to unlock token sales. When the game project teams suddenly receive a large amount of assets during a good market, the situation skyrockets, do you think they will still painstakingly make games?

The entire industry operates on a dopamine-driven behavior model. To borrow a phrase from Bilibili's bullet comments:

"With things being this way, everyone present has a responsibility."

Additionally, Feng Ji keenly revealed the state of Chinese online games in an old article from years ago titled "Who Murdered Our Games?":

"What lies behind online game operators? Capital.

What does the vast population of disillusioned people in China represent to capital? The best and most delicious flock ready for slaughter; a super gold mine that cannot be found anywhere else in the world; a perfect, untapped, and most fertile virgin land.

Remember, in the eyes of capital… corpses are its delicacies, tears are its condiments, it lives off this and enjoys it endlessly."

Looking at this statement now, it seems more appropriate to describe the harvesting and PVP in the crypto circle.

Everything is unrelated to the work, everything is about the commodity.

The Utilitarian, Rarely Relaxed, Hardly Mission-Driven

Looking back, indeed, the type of environment in the circle nurtures the kind of works and participants.

What is the essence of the utilitarianism in the crypto circle?

In fact, I believe the essence of the crypto circle is a highly compressed version of a venture capital circle in terms of time and space.

What does this mean? It means that patience and the space to develop are often insufficient. In terms of time, most of the time when you invest, people will not have the patience to wait for you to make a remarkable deal before discussing profits; in terms of space, the audience for your projects is also extremely limited. If it strays too far from core trading demands or major infrastructure narratives, everything will cool down.

In such a circle, it is very difficult to find the state to quietly refine, focus on building, and let the product speak for itself.

When you are pressed by investors about token unlock times and ratios, forced to sell assets by NFT deadlines, pressured to produce data by favorable listings, or even forced to close positions by contract alarms…

Under such relentless pressure, would you attempt to engage with a luxury entertainment product like "Black Myth," which requires a solid two hours of uninterrupted investment to experience its plot and action?

In a utilitarian circle, relaxation is rare.

News flashes are constant, market conditions change rapidly, side events are filled with socializing; where do you find the complete time to experience high-level entertainment that engages your spirit and emotions? Scrolling through Twitter and checking out gossip in the Chinese circle is probably sufficient.

And when practitioners are either disinclined or lack the opportunity to try such game products, how can we expect them to truly refine what is supposedly a AAA-level crypto game masterpiece?

In a state where even resigning or joining requires grand declarations of loyalty, labeling, and seeking feedback to the point of wanting the whole world to know, how can we expect it to truly build?

Everything is contradictory from the source.

Utilitarians find it hard to have a sense of mission, even harder to push against the tide and withstand pressure to realize their ideal products; they can only seek compromise between tokens and products, trying to maximize their talents within the framework of the crypto circle.

Works like "Black Myth" precisely stem from a sense of mission — not some top-down grand plan, nor strategic foresight, but purely from a childlike heart and a difficult exploration fueled by dissatisfaction.

Less of the smell of copper, more of the flavor of a lone hero.

Where there is more of the smell of copper, building will always be a means rather than an end.

When constantly thinking about means, it is impossible to discuss refining a true entertainment product. Because genuine entertainment requires relaxation, which cannot accommodate any utilitarianism. The crypto circle needs utilitarianism, which cannot accommodate any relaxation.

Thus, crypto games may not be about entertainment to death, but rather about being so unentertaining that it leads to death.

The funding model may seem entertaining, but in reality, it is a serious and precise economic layout, a proper supply-demand arrangement, and a grand harvesting drama behind it.

It is anything but a light and simple pastime.

Conclusion

This circle has never truly cared about games; it is entirely normal that there are no works with the temperament of "Black Myth."

And if a KOL throws out a token named after Wukong, when they learn that the small cap has recently surged by X times, they might follow suit to speculate, pretending to say that Black Wukong is the best in the world.

As the grand stage of crypto has reached today, the source still lies in Bitcoin.

The success of Bitcoin is, in fact, the inevitable result of idealists; the anonymous Satoshi satirized the bankruptcy of real banks in the genesis block, and several mature cryptographic technologies were cleverly coordinated, opening the curtain on crypto assets, resonating with the ideal of currency non-nationalization.

It seems unrealistic, yet it is historically inevitable.

Now, the brief rise or "success" of more crypto projects resembles the coincidence of utilitarians. The timing is just right, the liquidity is just vibrant, the trades are just well-spread; everything seems like an organized and premeditated arrangement, rolling out a lucky token.

This circle perhaps needs to do some good, to have more relaxation.

Do not be locked in your heart while being in crypto.

Embrace relaxation, applaud those who truly build entertainment projects, and applaud "Black Myth: Wukong."