Recognizing beauty, engaging with goodness, and approaching truth: foreign players’ cross-cultural identification with Chinese culture through <i>Black Myth: Wukong</i>

Black Myth: Wukong, a critically acclaimed Chinese video game, demonstrates the artistic appeal and cultural richness of Chinese narratives on a global stage. This study adopts the perspective of foreign players and takes the game as a case study. It develops a three-tiered theoretical pathway of cross-cultural identification by integrating Scene Theory (Theatricality, Legitimacy, and Authenticity) with the Cultural Iceberg Model (Surface, Intermediate, and Deep level). The findings reveal a progressive pathway. At the Surface level, players recognize ‘Beauty’ through visual and musical aesthetics. At the Intermediate level, they engage with ‘Goodness’ through identity formation and moral contexts. At the Deep level, they begin to approach ‘Truth’ through Chinese ethnic spirit and rationality, though such engagement remains partial and emergent. To address challenges such as narrative complexity and cross-cultural misunderstanding, this study proposes strategies including innovative visual storytelling and the cultivation of cultural discussion communities to facilitate deeper engagement.