A civil war is brewing over Black Myth: Wukong, and it’s all because the game isn’t coming to Xbox. On the one hand, we claim it’s just a technical issue, and developer Game Science says so. However, another party says that there is actually some sort of secret PlayStation exclusivity deal.
The second theory is currently being proposed by IGN in an article that directly quotes recent claims from Spanish leaker eXtas1s that Black Myth: Wukong has yet to be released on Xbox due to memory leak issues. This seems to make sense, as the PS5 version appears to have a memory leak that slowly erodes performance unless you close and restart the game. A similar issue could harm the Xbox Series S, which has far less RAM than the Series X and PS5.
However, IGN reports that an “informed source” told them that Black Myth: Wukong’s delay is due to some undisclosed exclusivity agreement between Game Science and Sony.
Forbes’ Paul Tassi confirmed this, claiming that a “source with knowledge of the situation” told him that “the reason Wukong is not currently coming to Xbox is because of an exclusivity deal, not The release of the game was delayed due to some technical issues.
Just a week ago, Paul Tassi argued that it was actually a technical issue that was preventing the Xbox version from being released. He later updated the article with the above quote the same day IGN published the report.
Windows Central confirmed the same thing.
Of course, it cannot be ruled out that the source of all these reports is actually just one person speaking to multiple media outlets, which would seriously undermine the veracity of this statement.
This isn’t the first time the idea of an exclusive deal between Game Science and Sony has been floated. Back in June, a trailer for Black Myth: Wukong was released, and astute fans noticed there was no mention of the Xbox version at all. Developer Game Science updated its official FAQ to say: “We are currently optimizing the Xbox Series X|S version to meet our quality standards, so it will not be released at the same time as other platforms.”
Since then, Game Science has not released any updates for the Xbox version.
Microsoft later made things even more confusing with a statement on June 21: “We are very excited about launching Black Myth Wukong on Xbox Series X|S and are working with Game Science to bring the game to Xbox Series X|S. brought to our platform. We cannot comment on deals our partners have struck with other platform holdersbut we remain committed to making Xbox the best platform for gamers, and great games are at the core of that.
Please note the highlighted text. This wording immediately sparked speculation among fans and media that some kind of exclusivity agreement had been signed between Game Science and Sony, making Black Myth: Wukong exclusive to the PS5 console, either indefinitely or for a predetermined time. When Paul Tassi asked about the situation in the article we discussed above, Microsoft sent them the same statement.
Regardless of what IGN says, the exclusivity theory doesn’t make much sense. Much of Sony’s strategy has always been built around exclusive distribution (both first-party and third-party), and it’s always been transparent about those deals. In fact, it heavily promotes these deals. While it’s not impossible, why would Sony sign a secret contract? It’s not illegal or unethical, and getting Black Myth: Wukong would be another feather in Sony’s already pretty well-rounded roster.
For his part, extas1s stood his ground, tweeting that “secret exclusivity doesn’t exist, and when you pay for exclusivity you’re just promoting it (obviously), not hiding it. Of course, I Total respect for my colleagues, but I have more trust in those who have told me this first hand.
So we’re at an impasse. On one hand, we have a leaker standing his ground, and on the other, we have three major outlets saying that Black Myth: Wukong is currently exclusive to PlayStation consoles thanks to a secret deal between Sony and Game Science Exclusive game.
Maybe this whole mess can finally be resolved when Game Science or Sony make a blunt statement explicitly denying any kind of deal.
All we know is that Black Myth: Wukong is currently crushing it. After surpassing 2 million concurrent players on Steam, we learned that it has also surpassed 10 million copies sold. Not bad for a monkey with a stick.
Please stay tuned for my review.
