Photo/Black Myth: Wukong

On August 24th, players of “Black Myth: Wukong” were excited for the first Saturday after the game’s release. However, many discovered that the game’s main distribution platform, Steam, was inaccessible that evening. The hashtag #SteamDown quickly trended on Weibo.

Many players speculated that the crash was due to an overwhelming number of players online. However, Perfect World, the Chinese agent for Steam, later announced that the crash was caused by a DDoS attack.

Steam has since restored access. On August 26th, Qi An Xin’s XLab detailed the DDoS attack, noting that the number of attack commands surged over 20,000 times the usual amount. Qi An Xin described the attack as highly organized, intense, and targeted.

Due to the sudden crash, the game’s real-time online player count briefly dropped below one million. Statistics suggest that if a game is attacked continuously for a day, it could lose 80% of its players, which can be devastating.

On August 26th, Qi An Xin’s XLab published a detailed report on the DDoS attack. Experts from Qi An Xin stated, “The sheer number of attack commands, the vast number of botnets, the intensity of the attack, and the meticulous organization make this DDoS attack one of the most significant we’ve seen in recent years.”