Last year, Chinese studio Game Science’s Black Myth: Wukong proved itself as a worthy successor to the “Soulslike” genre and the legend of the Monkey King. The game earned widespread acclaim for its brilliant design and massive PlayStation 5 and PC sales. However, one hurdle the title faced was its lack of release on the Xbox Series X or S. In response, the studio’s CEO explained that this problem was due to the technical limitations of the Xbox Series S and Microsoft’s policies. Here is a breakdown of what this means for the Xbox’s design and international gaming.

Black Myth: Wukong’s Lost Port

According to IGN, Game Science’s CEO Ji Feng expressed his thoughts on Black Myth: Wukong’s lack of an Xbox port. On the Chinese social media Weibo, he declared gratitude for their project winning Game of the Year at the 2024 Steam Awards. In the same post, however, he bemoaned the inability to bring the game to the PS5’s rival, the Xbox. He blamed this on optimization issues with the Xbox Series S’s limited technology.

He highlighted how the “10 GB of shared memory” made their technically massive game harder to function. The Series S has significantly lower GPU and memory allocation than its twin, the Series X. Even if the game could have been released on the Series S, Microsoft’s rules dictate that it be released on both or neither. This would not be the first game to reach this hurdle, with Remedy’s Alan Wake 2 and Larian’s Baldur’s Gate 3 facing similar issues.

Microsoft said otherwise despite the director’s claim of the Xbox’s technical limitations. The article included a statement from Microsoft claiming the delayed release was due to pre-existing deals with Sony. However, it’s unclear who will be believed, given that both have reasons for taking their respective sides.

Game Science’s Hit

Last year, Black Myth: Wukong became a breakout hit. The game was another adaptation of China’s legendary myth Journey to the West, a story that inspired many adaptations and even the massive Dragon Ball franchise. Furthermore, the game was “Soulslike,” taking inspiration from the challenging action RPGs of FromSoftware. Much like Neowiz’s Lies of P, the game masterfully recreated the formula while adding an original spin.

Despite the game’s lack of an Xbox port, it thrived on the PlayStation and PC, selling 18 million copies in two weeks. With 2.2 million Steam players at its peak, it achieved one of the highest all-time concurrent player counts. As stated above, the game won numerous accolades, including Steam’s Game of the Year. Furthermore, Game Science confirmed a future DLC. As such, it’s a tragedy that this classic game wouldn’t reach a broader audience.

Issues with Xbox

While Black Myth: Wukong’s lack of an Xbox release likely disappointed many gamers, this is only the latest game to fall victim to Microsoft’s design choice. The Series S was designed as an “economical” version of the more professional Series X with more affordable specs. However, the policy demanding releases on both limited the technical capabilities of games released on both. The fact they’d lose out on a hit like Wukong shows how detrimental a policy this is.

Furthermore, Microsoft has faced other controversies in recent years. One example is their recent purchase of Activision-Blizzard for $70 billion. This was such a monopolistic threat that Microsoft found itself in hot water with the FTC. Additionally, the mass layoffs hit many of their iconic studios, and they even shuttered iconic studios like Hi-Fi Rush’s Tango Gameworks in Japan.

Conclusion

Game Science’s Black Myth: Wukong‘s design, storytelling, and brilliant direction earned international success and became another amazing adaptation of its source material. However, the Xbox Series S technology and Microsoft’s draconian policies created a hurdle for the game’s international reach and limited its potential audience. This controversy highlighted the pitfalls of placing these restrictions on console releases. Hopefully, with the entire gaming medium hanging in the balance, these massive international corporations will set their differences aside to do what’s best for these consoles and games.