The long, strange saga of why Black Myth: Wukong is still not on Xbox, now four months after its release, continues with a new update this week.
An initial statement from Game Science said the following about what was going on, citing optimization issues with Xbox X/S.
“We are currently optimizing the Xbox Series X|S version to meet our quality standards,” Game Science said, “so it won’t release simultaneously with the other platforms.
Now, we are back to Game Science bringing up the Series S, something Microsoft said was not an issue.
I have also reached out to Sony and Game Science again, who did not respond when this story first broke.
Four months after its release, Black Myth: Wukong is still not available on Xbox, and this week’s update adds to the lengthy and peculiar tale of why.
In what appears to be another round of back and forth that dates back to August 2024, it places Wukong developer Game Science at odds with Microsoft’s rebuttal to the argument for why the game is not available on its platforms.
This is in response to a recent Weibo post by Feng Ji, the director of Black Myth: Wukong, complaining that it was “impossible” to get the game optimized for the Xbox Series S’s constrained shared memory without “several years of optimization experience.”. And that has triggered this entire discussion once more. Here, I will simply review the timeline.
I wrote an article back in August about the peculiar circumstance that Wukong was not available on Xbox even though it was released on other platforms and quickly became an enormous hit. primarily on PC, which is currently the second-most played Steam game ever, but it is also available on PS5. Citing Xbox X/S optimization issues, Game Science’s initial statement about the situation read as follows.
According to Game Science, “the Xbox Series X|S version is presently being optimized to meet our quality standards so it won’t release concurrently with the other platforms.”. We regret the inconvenience and want Xbox users to have as short a wait as possible. When it satisfies our requirements for quality, we will declare the release date. “.
That might have ended there (which is possibly where we are now), but I was contacted—as were others—by a source who had intimate knowledge of the situation. This was later confirmed by reports from WindowsCentral and IGN, who said that the exclusivity deal was the reason for the problem rather than a technical problem with the Xbox hardware. No agreement was in place, and some, like Jeff Grubb, denied this.
After a lot of back and forth, I managed to get Microsoft to publicly state its stance.
As previously stated, we are eager for Black Myth Wukong to debut on the Xbox Series X|S and are collaborating with Game Science to make the game available on our platforms. The agreements our partners have made with other platform holders are not something we would like to discuss, but we can confirm that the delay is not the result of Xbox platform limitations that have been brought to our attention. “.
After that, in November, Stephen Totilo of Game File had what can only be described as a cagey exchange with Phil Spencer.
Game File: Are you aware if you will eventually be able to play Black Myth: Wukong on Xbox?
Spencer: Yeah, I am aware.
Game File: Are you receiving it?
[Laughing]: I’m not able to make that announcement.
We now return to Game Science, who brought up the Series S, which Microsoft claimed was not a problem. Here is director Feng Ji’s entire (translated) quote.
Even though there weren’t any major surprises, receiving them all made me feel a little emotional. The XBOX robe is the only item lacking, but everyone’s fighting prowess is so terrifying. It seems a little off, but that’s 10G of shared memory, and without years of optimization experience, it’s practically impossible to obtain it (sad emojis). “.”.
Once more, this runs counter to Microsoft’s statement that it isn’t a hardware problem, unless they are engaging in some strange back-bending along the lines of “well, it is possible, they just don’t know how to do it.”. That would not precisely be consistent with Microsoft’s assertion that they are making every effort to bring this to fulfillment.
But neither Sony nor Game Science have made any remarks regarding an exclusivity agreement. Despite mentioning the Series S, Game Science’s recent statement makes no mention of any other deals or lack thereof. Although Microsoft hasn’t publicly stated that they are excluded from a deal, it has made sure that its public remarks strongly suggest that they are and steer clear of any possible hardware issues. There may still be these technical problems if, as we were informed, there was an exclusivity agreement that has expired or is set to expire. Here is an update from Windows Central’s Jez Corden based on this recent quotation.
All I know for sure is that they informed Xbox that a deal was in place, and Xbox thinks the same. I’m reporting what, at the time of my initial report, Xbox thought to be the case. To date, they have refused to deny that.
There are those (very ardent console fans) who believe that Microsoft is deceiving us and that we are all being taken advantage of. Game Science and Sony have never explicitly denied the existence of a deal, past or present, despite the fact that there are contradictory statements regarding the optimization issues. In any event, the fact that Microsoft did not launch the biggest game of 2024 on its platform and still does not have it now does not speak well of the company.
This is becoming really tiresome, so I’ve asked Microsoft for their opinion. They said it might take some time to respond because of the holiday. Once more, I will update this as soon as I receive feedback, and if there is anything important to say, I will probably create a new piece. With any luck, there will be. Additionally, I have contacted Game Science and Sony once more, as they were unresponsive when this story first surfaced.
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