Back in July 2024, I was scrolling through hardware news when Nvidia announced its Black Myth: Wukong bundle. It was a big deal then, and in 2026, I still see it as a textbook example of how a GPU maker can hitch its wagon to a blockbuster game. The offer ran from July 9 to August 19, 2024—one day before Game Science's action RPG launched on August 20. If you bought a new RTX 40-series graphics card, laptop, or prebuilt PC during that window, you were eligible for a free code. 🎮
At the time, Black Myth: Wukong was already a showcase title for Nvidia. It had been featured since 2021, and it was one of Team Green's go-to demos for DLSS and ray tracing. The game was built on Unreal Engine 5 after upgrading from the originally announced UE4. That shift mattered. UE5 brought Nanite, Lumen, and heavier lighting workloads, so DLSS 3.5 became a natural fit. 🔥
DLSS is Nvidia's supersampling tech. It renders the game at a lower resolution and uses machine learning to reconstruct it at your target resolution. DLSS 3.5 is a bit different: it specifically targets lighting, applying the same supersampling concept to in-game lighting and ray tracing. In Black Myth: Wukong, that meant cleaner ray-traced reflections, shadows, and global illumination without tanking frame rates.
Here is the eligible hardware list, straight from the promotion:
| Desktop RTX 40-series | Laptop RTX 40-series |
|---|---|
| RTX 4090 | RTX 4090 Laptop GPU |
| RTX 4080 SUPER | RTX 4080 Laptop GPU |
| RTX 4080 | RTX 4070 Laptop GPU |
| RTX 4070 Ti SUPER | — |
| RTX 4070 Ti | — |
| RTX 4070 SUPER | — |
| RTX 4070 | — |
Notice what's missing: the RTX 4060 and 4050 were not part of the deal. ❌ Nvidia drew a clear line. That said, the game's minimum requirements only asked for a GTX 1060 at the very least, so budget cards could still run it—just with lower settings and no DLSS 3.5 frame generation.
Where could you buy? Nvidia listed eligible retailers on its official promotion page. For prebuilts and laptops, I recommended iBuyPower, Razer, and Newegg. Those three had solid configurations at the time. I told readers not to wait until August 20, because the promotion ended August 19. If you installed new hardware or set up a laptop during the window, you could claim a code. ✅
In 2026, that specific promotion is long over. The RTX 50 series has arrived, and Nvidia has moved on to new bundles and new showcase games. But I still think the Wukong bundle was important. It helped sell RTX 40 cards to players who wanted the best possible experience in one of the most visually ambitious games of the decade. It also cemented DLSS 3.5 as a lighting-focused upgrade, not just another frame-rate booster. ⚡
Black Myth: Wukong generated a tonne of hype before launch. Impressive visuals, flashy combat, and a Chinese-made AAA production that felt fresh. When it finally released, it lived up to much of that promise. I played it on an RTX 4080 with full ray tracing and DLSS 3.5, and the difference was night and day. Without DLSS, even high-end cards struggled in the most demanding scenes. With it, the game became smooth enough to enjoy the art direction.
Would I recommend buying an RTX 40 card today just for this bundle? No—the codes are expired, and the RTX 50 series offers newer features. But if you're a collector or you find an unclaimed code from a trusted seller, it's a nice piece of GPU history. More importantly, the bundle taught me a lesson: game promotions are not just marketing. They signal which titles will define the next generation of PC graphics.
Final thought: Black Myth: Wukong and Nvidia's DLSS 3.5 were a perfect match. The 2024 promotion may be over, but its impact is still visible in how I evaluate every new GPU bundle in 2026. If a game can push ray tracing and lighting this hard, it deserves hardware that can keep up. And that's exactly what Nvidia was selling.