Lord of Mysteries is off to a good start in China, topping popularity charts within days of its open beta release and overwhelming servers in the process.
Lord of Mysteries Tops the Charts in China
Number 1 on the CN App Store, Bilibili, and TapTap
The Lord of Mysteries (LOTM) game has climbed to the top of three major popularity rankings in China: the CN App Store's Popular Downloads chart, Bilibili's Game Popularity chart, and TapTap's Popularity chart. The game positions itself as one of China's ambitious European gothic-style occult MMORPGs built on UE5 alongside other titles of a similar genre, such as the upcoming Silver Palace.
Upon its launch, the surge in interest hit an issue almost immediately. According to an official forum post from the developers on Taptap, the pre-launch character creation event briefly went offline after registration numbers far exceeded what the team had planned for, forcing a temporary halt while they scrambled to expand player capacity. To keep up, the developers added two additional servers, called Abyss and Death. With the large player base, the team expressed that they’re deeply appreciative of the overwhelming support, thanking players for their interest in the game.
Not Every Player Is Convinced
The chart-topping numbers tell only part of the story since Lord of Mysteries currently holds a 4.3 out of 5 on the CN App Store and a 9.1 rating on Bilibili's own game listing, but the review section underneath tells a much more divided story, with a commenter describing the split as roughly half between good ratings and negative ones. In TapTap, LOTM’s score sits noticeably lower at 7.8, and its recent scoring has more critical reviews than positive ones.
One of the common complaints focuses on the faithfulness to the source novel. Longtime readers have pointed out that the game's divine paths don't match how they function in the books, singling out the Diviner being reworked into a ranged physical attacker instead of using spiritual energy and the Seer/Audience path being restricted to female characters only, with no option to play it as male.
Others have criticized the visuals running poorly despite the UE5 branding, arguing that promotional cutscenes don't reflect actual gameplay quality. Players have also flagged monetization systems like monthly cards and gacha-based pulls as very pay-to-win and feel at odds with the theme since part of the customizable clothing is suggestive. Additionally, a number of reviewers also reported technical issues, including the game crashing immediately after selecting a class or story route.
Despite these, not all feedback is negative, as other players have pushed back on the harsher reviews. Some still praise the game's atmosphere, class-pairing strategies, and its ambitious scale. Optimistically, they believe it still has room to improve as time goes on.
What This Means for Lord of Mysteries’ Global Fans
For now, Lord of Mysteries' game remains a China-only release from SPARK NEXA and Hangzhou Tanzhi Universe Network. There's no official word yet on a global launch period, but the game's explosive local reception has fans and players elsewhere hoping that could change. With its rising popularity and an official EN website, a future global launch may not be far off.
Reactions to the news have included hopes that this level of success might push the studio to invest further in the broader Lord of Mysteries IP, pointing to the franchise's existing donghua adaptation as an example of what could be added in the future. For more information and updates on the game, check out the page below:
Sources:
We are urgently expanding the pre-created character capacity, so please be prepared
Taptap Lord of Mysteries
Popularity for the Lord of Mysteries Game in China
Lord of Mysteries Bilibili
CN App Store Lord of Mysteries
