Online game Black Myth: Wukong sold 18 million copies in two weeks – one of the fastest starts the global gaming industry has seen. That record pace has, in turn, minted millions for its earliest and biggest investor.

Wukong was a leap of faith for Mr Daniel Wu, whose little-known Hero Games is the biggest external shareholder in creator Game Science. His start-up stuck with its partner through years of flops and contributed a large chunk of the blockbuster title’s US$70 million (S$91 million) budget over six years of development, an unheard-of undertaking for a Chinese project.