Black Myth’s Offline Store Turns One as Yang Qi Doubles Down on Physical Art

On August 30, Game Science co-founder and director Yang Qi posted on Gamersky to mark the first anniversary of Hangzhou's Black Myth BLACKMYTH offline store. It wasn't just an anniversary post. Yang used it to explain why the studio keeps pouring money into physical art, retail space, and an IP presence players can stand inside.

Yang's answer was direct: "Games are a comprehensive art form to begin with, and physical works can deliver texture, interaction, and the experience of something real—things digital content can't fully provide." He added that "especially as generative digital content becomes more common, physical art's value only stands out more." At a time when generative content is everywhere, Yang is making a case for the IP's physical layer. A virtual scene, however polished, can't fully replace an object you can actually hold.

The Hangzhou store grew out of that larger offline push. Last spring, Game Science held a Black Myth: Wukong art exhibition beside West Lake, showing nearly 1,000 physical works. After the show wrapped, the Black Myth retail store opened in Hangzhou. Over the past year, collaborating artists kept producing new work, and Game Science is now preparing a full refresh of the Hangzhou space, pulling a new batch of pieces from the archive it has built up.

The store will close for construction from August 31 to September 2, then reopen on September 3. For anyone planning to visit, that date matters more than the anniversary message. The space is getting a real update built from the past year's output—less souvenir stall, more active entry point for the IP.

The comparison with overseas IP is obvious. Mature overseas franchises like The Witcher 3 and Elden Ring already live outside their game clients—statues, film adaptations, offline events, and other tie-ins run parallel to the original work. For Black Myth, the path from a domestic single-player game to a fuller cultural brand runs through exhibitions, physical art, and retail.

That doesn't make the strategy low-risk. Physical products carry real costs—production, warehousing, store operations, and the invisible work of keeping quality consistent. If a piece of merch looks cheap or badly designed, the fallout can bleed back into how players judge the game itself. A mature IP can run digital games and physical products side by side, but the physical side has to earn its place rather than coast on the game's prestige.

If you're planning to visit the Hangzhou store, the practical advice is simple: skip August 31 to September 2. Showing up on the September 3 reopening avoids a wasted trip and lands you in the refreshed layout. For merchandise, the safer buys are pieces clearly tied to exhibition works or credited to named artists—those are less likely to suffer from weak design or spotty production.

At least judging by Black Myth's current influence, there are already enough players and tourists willing to enter that offline space. That suggests the IP no longer lives only in a Steam library. It now has a real address in Hangzhou.