Sony Accused of Signing Secret PS5 Console Exclusivity Agreement with Black Myth: Wukong 1
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Update #2: An interesting night of conflicting reports has brought no resolution to the idea Sony secretly paid for Black Myth: Wukong exclusivity. Neither the platform holder nor developer Game Science has commented on the speculation, but Giant Bomb’s Jeff Grubb has gone against the recent round of reports.

Grubb said on a podcast that he’d spoken to someone who would know, and that Sony has “no money marketing deal to keep [Black Myth: Wukong] off Xbox”. He speculates it’s possible the PlayStation maker may have helped on development, and also points out that Game Science potentially may have prioritised PS5 due to its larger Asian audience.

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Update #1: At this point, someone is going to have to say something. A separate IGN report, corroborating comments made by Forbes’ Paul Tassi, claims Sony has indeed signed a “secret” exclusivity arrangement with Black Myth: Wukong developer Game Science. The unnamed source claims the developer’s comments about technical issues with the Xbox Series X|S version of the game are “inaccurate”.

We’ve contacted both Game Science and Sony for clarification, and will update when we learn more.

Original Story: Rumours started by Forbes contributor Paul Tassi have today claimed that Sony signed a console exclusivity arrangement with Chinese action game Black Myth: Wukong. The game was previously announced for multiple systems, including Xbox Series X|S, but during Summer Game Fest developer Game Science announced it was having issues with Microsoft’s machine, and would only release on PS5 and PC initially. The title has since gone on to sell 10 million copies.

At the time, the studio issued an FAQ explaining its decision to skip Xbox: “We are currently optimising the Xbox Series X|S version to meet our quality standards, so it won't release simultaneously with the other platforms. We apologise for the delay and aim to minimise the wait for Xbox users. We will announce the release date as soon as it meets our quality standards.”

A subsequent statement shared by Microsoft fuelled the fires about a supposed “secret” Sony exclusivity deal. “We can’t comment on the deals made by our partners with other platform holders, but we remain focused on making Xbox the best platform for gamers, and great games are at the centre of that,” a spokesperson told Windows Central, prompting speculation that the PlayStation maker had signed a deal with the game.

Sony Accused of Signing Secret PS5 Console Exclusivity Agreement with Black Myth: Wukong 2

This, as we pointed out at the time, didn’t make sense. PlayStation has extremely open about the nature of its timed exclusives, with Final Fantasy 16 and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth being prime recent examples. Both titles included small-print disclosing the duration of their availability, and were openly announced as timed exclusives. Silent Hill 2, as can be seen above, has a similar declaration.

Tassi, however, claims that Sony has signed a timed exclusive deal – and Game Science is lying about the technical issues its title is experiencing on Xbox Series X|S. He wrote on X (or Twitter): “A source with knowledge of the situation has told me that Black Myth: Wukong is not currently on Xbox because of an exclusivity deal, and is not delayed because of any sort of technical issue.”

We’ve contacted both PlayStation and Game Science to get clarification, and will update when we hear back.

While we can’t comment on Tassi’s sources, we’d be surprised if his information is accurate. Sony has been active marketing Black Myth: Wukong in Asia, but it’s done little to promote the game in the West, and usually when it has a timed exclusive under its belt it’ll promote the heck out of it. We all got sick of the sight of Deathloop, for example, a game it openly advertised as a timed exclusive.

We don’t know what’s going on with the Xbox Series X|S version of the acclaimed action game, but the developer has very little to gain by lying about any technical issues it may be encountering. If it had signed an exclusivity deal with Sony, why wouldn’t it just say so? Creating a false excuse to cover up for a shady secret deal just doesn’t make sense.

[source x.com]