Director Explains Why Black Myth: Wukong is Not Available on Xbox

Black Myth: Wukong and Its Xbox Release Dilemma

As one of 2024’s standout gaming titles, Black Myth: Wukong has cultivated a dedicated fan base, leading to notable achievements such as the Player’s Choice award at The Game Awards and several accolades at the 2024 Steam Awards. As the gaming community looks toward 2025, an essential question persists: When will Black Myth: Wukong be available on Xbox platforms? Currently, the game is accessible exclusively on PlayStation 5 and PC. Insights from the game’s director have surfaced, indicating the challenges that lie ahead for an Xbox release.

Insights from the Game Director

Recently, Feng Ji, director of Black Myth: Wukong, shared an update via Weibo, which was roughly translated by Reddit user Fidler_2K. His comments revealed that the limitations imposed by the Xbox Series S, particularly its 10GB RAM, have hindered the transition of the game to Xbox consoles.

Black Myth Wukong’s game director confirms the Xbox version is missing because of optimization issues faced with 10GB of memory on the Xbox Series S by u/Fidler_2K in GamingLeaksAndRumours

This revelation contradicts earlier assumptions suggesting that the absence of an Xbox version was related to exclusivity agreements involving developer Game Science. It also clarifies why there has been no major marketing push by PlayStation promoting the game as an exclusive title, a move that aligns poorly with those previous speculations.

Challenges Faced by Xbox Series S

The Xbox Series S’s hardware limitations have proven troublesome for other titles as well. A significant case in point is Baldur’s Gate 3, which encountered similar challenges delaying its Xbox launch. Released in August 2023 for other platforms, it took developers additional months to adapt the game for Xbox, largely due to fulfilling Xbox’s feature parity requirements between the Series X and S. The local co-op split-screen feature was too demanding for the lower-spec Series S, which necessitated a compromise.

For Black Myth: Wukong, however, the situation may be more complex. The game doesn’t seem to have a comparable feature that could simply be omitted to facilitate a release on the Series S. Moreover, optimization problems have been reported even on more robust systems like the PS5 and high-end PCs, indicating broader performance challenges.

What’s Next for Black Myth: Wukong?

While there is hope among fans for an Xbox release, predicting a timeline remains elusive. The ongoing technical hurdles, primarily stemming from the Series S’s specifications, suggest that a release may be more of a distant prospect. Game Science’s optimization efforts will likely play a crucial role in making this title available to Xbox gamers.

The prospect of releasing the game solely on the Series X has not been considered, as this would represent a notable deviation from Microsoft’s current generation policies, which emphasize uniformity across their consoles.

In conclusion, while the gaming community eagerly anticipates the release of Black Myth: Wukong on Xbox, significant work remains to ensure compatibility with the Series S. The timeline for such a release is uncertain, and until substantial optimizations are achieved, fans may have to exercise patience.

Sources: Fidler_2K/Reddit, Weibo

Source & Images