The popularity of Black Myth: Wukong is undeniable, with the new single-player title already selling over 10 million copies globally. However, the game’s release on Xbox consoles remains shrouded in mystery, leaving Xbox gamers anxiously awaiting news. The confusion stems from conflicting statements from various sources, including the game’s developer, Xbox insiders, and industry publications.
Back in June, Game Science, the developer of Black Myth: Wukong, stated they were “currently optimizing the Xbox Series X|S version to meet our quality standards” and would announce the release date once those standards were met. However, shortly after the game’s launch, an insider claimed that Xbox insiders at Gamescom informed them of a technical issue on Xbox consoles, specifically a “memory leak” bug, causing an indefinite delay until optimization was completed.
Adding fuel to the fire, reports from Forbes and IGN suggested that Game Science had entered into an exclusive release agreement with Sony for PlayStation consoles. While details of this purported deal remain unclear, including the duration of the exclusivity, sources later clarified that there was no timed exclusivity deal and that Sony merely “paid to help get the port done.” This seemingly contradicts the typical practice of Sony partnering with developers, where timed exclusivity agreements are commonly associated with their involvement.
Further muddying the waters, Sony has not publicly announced any exclusivity deal for Black Myth: Wukong, which raises questions about the validity of the initial rumors. This leaves Xbox gamers in a frustrating state of limbo, with no definitive release date or explanation for the apparent delay.
Despite Microsoft’s statement addressing the rumors, a level of ambiguity persists. To alleviate the uncertainty and restore confidence, it would be beneficial for both Game Science and Xbox to provide a joint or separate statement clarifying the status of the Xbox version of Black Myth: Wukong. This transparency would go a long way in addressing the concerns of eagerly anticipating Xbox gamers and shed light on the future of the game’s release on their platform.
