While PlayStation 5 and PC gamers have enjoyed Game Science's take on Journey to the West, Xbox players find themselves in an indefinite waiting period to play Black Myth: Wukong. Now, we might finally know why.
According to insiders at Gamescom 2024, Black Myth: Wukong has already failed Xbox certification twice, primarily due to a memory leak problem. The memory leak causes substantial crashes that not only compromise the game's performance but potentially affect the Xbox consoles themselves, raising concerns about its stability, which ultimately led to its indefinite delay on the platform.
Game Science is reportedly working diligently to resolve the issue and optimize the game for Xbox Series S and X. However, the stringent certification process means the development team has to jump through a lot of hoops before they can receive approval for its release on Xbox.
Previously, many blamed the delay on Xbox Series S, similar to what happened with Baldur's Gate 3. But it's now clear that the game itself has flaws. The PS5 version of Black Myth: Wukong isn't without its own memory leak problems. The same issue manifests after approximately five hours of continuous play on Sony's console.
Although it's still possible that the weaker hardware of the X Series S—the X Series S only has 8GB usable RAM compared to the 10GB on the X Series X and PS5—is a factor. We can't underestimate the added burden on developers to optimize for the more powerful Xbox Series X and the less capable Xbox Series S, potentially leading to delays or compromised performance. The mandatory requirement may hold back the potential of cross-platform titles if it hasn't already had a negative impact.