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The case of Black Myth: Wukong's alleged Sony exclusivity is becoming curiouser and curiouser, with a spokesperson for Microsoft confirming that its indefinite delay has nothing to do with the assumed technical limitations of the Xbox Series S. Suddenly, those shadowy money-hat conspiracy theories aren't looking quite so far-fetched.
Forbes contributor Paul Tassi remains at the centre of this story, and he obtained a statement from Microsoft that leaves us with more questions than answers: "As we have said before, we’re excited for the launch of Black Myth Wukong on Xbox Series X|S and are working with Game Science to bring the game to our platforms. We'd prefer not to comment on the deals made by our partners with other platform holders but we can confirm that the delay is not due to Xbox platform limitations that have been raised to us."
Tassi says this statement reinforces his original reporting, which was corroborated by IGN, but poo-pooed by industry insiders and gadflies. The journalist points to the part about not commenting on other platform holders deals as proof:
"Black Myth: Wukong’s delayed release on Xbox is not technical in nature, and not because of some issue with the Series S as many have speculated, as Microsoft is now saying outright. Microsoft did not comment on any specifics of a deal between Game Science and Sony, but again, like their original statements, have pointed directly to that possibility when making a statement about a delay."
What do you think? Did Sony make some kind of unusual arrangement with Game Science in order to secure a period of Black Myth: Wukong exclusivity, potentially in the form of paid tech work, as Tassi speculates? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
[source forbes.com]
Comments 97
This statement from Microsoft is remarkable, because one party is lying or at least pouring petrol into the fire.
@Max_the_German Well in an Occam's razor approach it's more likely one company is lying than two companies. Especially when that company is being sh*t on by one of the other ones in terms of success. And especially when Sony normally happily announce timed exclusives.
@Max_the_German I still reckon it all boils down to Sony likely assisted in order to get the game out. Its not a true exclusivity deal, but essentially functions as one. However in no way do I think thats shady or scummy, its just supporting your product and by all accounts, not just from this game, its something MS need to get a lot better at.
I really don’t understand the backlash even if Sony assisted even if through money. A studio is free to do with their IP as they please as well as interact with another corporate entity as they please. Even if that means exclusive deals which I don’t see the problem with. All companies do this.
But what's the reason for Baldurs gate 3 being delayed? Sony didn't pay for that game.
MS does this all the time, nobody bats an eye. Sony does this, everyone loses their damn minds.
Here we go again
"We'd prefer not to comment on the deals made by our partners with other platform holders"
They already used this exact same non-committal accusation months ago. No one with at least half a brain cell bought it then and no one does now.
Am I missing something here, or does this just look like Paul Tassi doubling down and trying to save face? There seems to be nothing of substance here.
Unless I see concrete proof, i will remain of the opinion (formed purely by the lack of Sony / GS marketing as exclusive) that the reason is:
I think we are likely to see this FAR more in the next few years.
What an absolute nothing burger....
@Ainu20 Yeah, at the risk of sounding biased it reads like Tassi trying his hardest to not be seen as having jumped the gun.
If it's not platform limitations then the dev prioritised the version that would get them the most sales.
I wouldn't be surprised if Sony had paid for timed exclusivity, I just don't believe it in this case because they would have bragged about it for months.
Why would Sony pay for exclusivity, it will basically be exclusive to PS if launched same day on Xbox, unless Xbox paid to put it on Game pass.
@Ilyn I completely agree with your theory. I would only add this is what MS has been doing for a while. Behind the scenes, MS has been lending resources through ATG among others, to release games on Xbox without delays. All that is to "hide" the fact platform is not No. 1. priority to smaller teams, and it is harder to develop for 2 SKUs (all of which are logic 101 conclusions being thrown money at to obscure).
If the game wasn't made in China none of this would have happened as exclusivity deals happen all the time. I genuinely believe all the was spurred on by Bloomberg, the same that started the anti china tech wars. In fact, all of this is so much misinformation I can't help but feel it's government stirring the pot as they see Chinese game companies as threats.
So, everyone except MS is a liar. Maybe MS should go into selling gas lighters. Is Amber Heard head of PR there now?
'We'd prefer not to comment on the deals made by our partners with other platform holders"
....is in of itself a comment about a 'deal' designed to cast aspertions.
Fallacy of paralipsis MS, and that's pretty scummy.
Subtle difference between a platform holder saying there are no platform limitations to something working “that they have been informed about”, and a small developer being able to get it working.
Paul Tassi Paid the developers of Black myth to delay the Xbox version indefinitely so he could pretend to be big pants journalist! Trust me, I have an inside source, totally real person.
Sony helping out Game science to get the game running on PS5 = scummy/dishonest
While Microsoft can buy Activision/Bathesda/King = completely fine
The story that just keeps on giving.
Did Christmas come early?
Another fart from Paul Fartsy huh 🤦♂️
Crazy that this keeps popping up… still I wouldn’t put it past Microsoft that their comment is actually about the deal between game science and nvidia, which has caused the games to poorly run on AMD cards but imply the deal is with Sony for their own ends.
@Sequel it is? it’s barely started
It's a deliberately ambiguous comment which neither says there is or is not some kind of deal and for everyone to just assume this means an exclusivity deal has been struck is just wild. To me it smacks of Microsoft diverting attention away from their own shortcomings.
It’s quite amusing seeing reactions to this saga on this site.
When the rumours started off people were dissing Xbox saying, “yeah, this isn’t Sony’s dodgy deals it’s Xbox being crap.”
Then when it was speculated that Sony might have made a deal, everyone was like, “I don’t believe that for a second. Sony normally makes a big deal and advertises it non stop.”
Now Microsoft have all but confirmed it’s the deal everyone is like, “Well, Microsoft does this too so they can’t complain, and I don’t even believe them anyway.”
We’ve become political campaigners mixed with conspiracy theorists (and I kinda like the latter so let’s keep them going).
Personally, I think Sony should have just let this release everywhere at the same time so the entire community could unite in enjoying the game… and laughing at the Series S performance problems together. 😅
@Kienda I don't think MS have confirmed it at all. There's basically no new information in this article.
@Kienda is your source, "trust me bro"?
@Ainu20 alluded to then.
Anyways, my entire comment was just to rip on Series S performance. But I guess my jokes don’t always hit mark.
@Oram77 yep, my comment totally missed the mark.
They would say that. They're not going to turn around and say "sorry everyone but the Series S is a pile of garbage and everyone was right that it would hold the gen back because we force every game to be playable on our weak little system that can barely run Minecraft."
No, far easier to say it's under the table politics. Without any proof and even saying the developer who made the game is wrong because we at Microsoft said so. And our captain of the Xbox division is a total saint who never lies and makes stuff up for PR but is really bad at it.
If they can prove it I'll believe them. But they can't. This is just clutching at straws from them as usual. The Series S was a mistake. And releasing new models will only make it worse.
Microsoft's "Everything MUST run on series S" is really killing them here and I don't understand how they can claim otherwise.
Well, we only just got Vampire Survivors, so fair's fair.
I dont care, i am enjoying Wukong so much. Let gamers be gamers and let other worry about this ***** gossiping.
Microsoft are just trying to protect the Series S yet there has been multiple cases of developers either struggling to get their game running on Xbox or developers openly admitting the Series S is a nightmare. Then we have the fact Microsoft are struggling to make 60fps games even though they have the more "powerful" console, but in reality the Series S is holding their own games back.
@Kienda the point is, the needle hasn't moved at any point. The rumour itself is barely recognisable from the original (with Tassi and others claiming Sony provided resources/devs to Game Science for their port), and even so has no basis for fact (we're literally at "trust me, bro" as a source). The devs have also claimed there is no exclusivity deal, and even Microsoft themselves have been claiming they've been working with Game Science on the port (which contradicts the rumour entirely).
we’re excited for the launch of Black Myth Wukong on Xbox Series X|S and are working with Game Science to bring the game to our platforms.
Isn't that contradicting themselves, if there's an exclusivity deal then why are Microsoft working with them and if so then what on?
@UltimateOtaku91 Its the new age of exclusivity where you pay but are not allowed to market the game at all as an exclusive but the competition is allowed to market it as coming soon.
What a wild time to be alive 😂
Sony should make a statement if they haven’t done a deal.
@DarkTron I was just making an observation of the comments (and it was a failed attempt at humour not criticism).
I honestly don't think anything Microsoft or Sony say will change peoples minds here. Nor does it really matter, as we all have different views.
But the one thing we can all unite on is the fact that Series S is underpowered.
Yeah right sure it is.. that's what they want to have you believe whilst they accuse Sony of paying for exclusivity, which they have never advertised and came from some random games journalist originally. Sony and MS are ad bad as each other lately.
@Shadcai Now that is an interesting one, that game runs on the Steam Deck very well, but Xbox don't have it??..
If I recall devs said Xbox changed all their tools for this new gen and they aren't as matured hence it can delay games coming to the platform. Don't know if that's still the case though, but I wouldn't have thought it was down to lack of power in the Series S?
Firstly nobody cares and secondly it is very likely there are issues with series S running one of the best looking games we’ve seen on UE5.
And Sony for some reason decided to keep the fact that they have a top shelf exclusive secret. And GS decided to start lying and saying that the reason for delay is because of Xbox hardware limitations. Still sounds like nonsense to me. 90% of what Tassi says is nonsense anyway so I don't see why this would be any different.
This is so boring and such a non story I’m getting tired of seeing articles trying to drum up negativity like the internet isn’t full enough of that sh*t. It either happened or didn’t happen in the end who really gives a crap besides console warriors,fanboys and gaming sites farming for clicks
🥱🥱🥱🥱🥱
Just typing words because I have to.
@mazzel are you one of the infinite monkeys forced into labour to prove the hypothesis that with infinite time you'll write all the works of Shakespeare?
How's it going? 😊👍
I agree that there is no issue with a company securing an exclusive, @Matroska, indeed, my view is that Sony likely assisted the Developer to bring the game to the PS5 first, and not necessarily with a specified period of exclusivity. However, by bringing it to one console first, it does create a period of exclusivity. Also, Sony cannot announce a exclusive deal that does not exist.
However, I think the problem with this scenario is that by neither Sony nor the Game Science being straight with us, it has allowed the Xbox Series S to be accused of being the problem, and for Xbox as a whole to take heat that is not of their making, and for which they are not actually able to do anything about.
Now, neither Sony nor Game Science are obliged to say anything, and indeed, both may have signed an agreement that prohibits them from doing so, but in the case of Sony, they have been in the game long enough to know that saying nothing is perhaps even more damaging to Xbox than admitting there is some form of agreement in place (even if that isn't actually for a period of exclusivity). If that is the case, then Sony have played a blinder...
Why is this even ps news we have the game why do we care that Xbox doesn't have it push square
@riceNpea sounds like a great hypothesis
There may not be an agreed period of exclusivity for Sony to talk about, @Ilyn, it maybe as simple as Sony having helped Game Science get the PlayStation version done first, thus creating a period of exclusivity by virtue of the PS5 version being the one released first. After all, you cannot talk about an exclusive agreement that does not exist...
@Boxmonkey Why should they? If it were a formal accusation from Microsoft itself, then yes, they should. But it's not, and they shouldn't. This is just a guttersniping journalist who pulled a rumour out of thin air, quickly had his "information" discredited by a number of his peers, and is now trying to draw non-commital corpospeak out of context to save face.
Ignore him, blacklist him, job done.
@Fiendish-Beaver
Edit: the following is not direct from GS, apologies, I misread the articles. I won't delete it to hide my error.
Game Science has been straight with us...
"The game is reportedly suffering from a bug known as 'Memory Leak,' which can cause significant crashes that could compromise the performance of your Xbox console. Due to this issue, the game has not passed Xbox's bug detection tests and has therefore been indefinitely delayed until they manage to optimize the game for Series X|S"
Another report GS explains, "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"
@Fiendish-Beaver Yeah thats essentially my thoughts, They have taken action which has resulted in them having exclusivity, but its not an exclusivity agreement.
Its why I think they are better just staying quiet and not commenting because nothing will sway the fanbois or reporters with an axe to grind, all they would do is provide them with another statement to twist the narrative further.
Let's assume that Sony paid to have it timed exclusive. What's wrong with that? Why Microsoft doesn't do the same or is it because they don't care about Xbox consoles anymore?!
It was Xbox one and now it’s Xbox series S🙄
I wonder will Microsoft do this for a third time in the next generation 👀
Most people are probably long past caring at this point, that's if they even cared in the first place, I know I didn't.
I just see this as some snowflake journalists trying to direct some hate Game Science's way and Xbox trying to capitalize on by using it as an excuse to pretend it isn't the Potato S's fault again.
Ofc there's plenty of tinfoil hat wearing Xbox fans that will lap this stuff up though.
Tassi u have little monkey and nobody wants to play with you 👊
Who cares, it's not like Microsoft doesn't do the exact same thing. Look how long it took for vampire survivors to come to PlayStation.
Remember Enotria? Remember how they said Microsoft support was lacking and that's why they need to delay the Xbox version?
Remember BG3?
Same old song.
@Americansamurai1 Vampire Survivors was held back from PS5 because the developers found it difficult to get the game running on the Sony Walkman TPS-L2
Man, Microsoft trying to save face so bad.
I believe exactly zero words out of the mouth of Microsoft.
@riceNpea omg love the TPS-L2 reference!
Have they, @riceNpea? Have Game Science released a press release (or even said something on Twitter) that specifically mentions this issue?
Not that I can see. There have been insider statements to say this is the case, but I don't believe we have heard anything directly from Game Science confirming it. Even if this insider is correct, and has spoken to someone at GS, it is still not the same as GS coming out and publicly saying so.
Happy to be corrected though, matey...
I think this is the most important line:
Xbox platform limitations that have been raised to us."
Raised to us.
If they're hitting limitations Gamescience may have decided to focus on the other two platforms especially if Sony decided to be very helpful. Or maybe those issues have been shared and Microsoft will get the notification in two months. Also seeing the PS5 performance, I don't see how the Series S can handle it.
@Fiendish-Beaver the quotes I posted are from GS to various game websites, but yes it's indirect. So, my apologies. I thought it was direct, I misread the articles. I'll make that clear in my reply to you so as to not mislead.
Removed - trolling/baiting
@Stickleman please elucidate. I don't understand the point you are making and how you've reached such a conclusion about most people here based on what's been said here or in the article. I'd like to understand your point of view.
My apologies too, @riceNpea. I scrolled down from my answer and saw your response, and didn't see the correction.
Anyway, it's all good, matey...
@Fiendish-Beaver we're all friends here FB 😊👍
@riceNpea yeah if they got it running on the crappy series s, pretty sure the superior PS5 would be super easy.
digital foundry sources also confirm there is a deal with Sony behind the scenes, Sony has any right to money hat any 3rd party game, the problem is that the dev has claimed platform limitations for xbox and that's real unethical if the rumors are true
If the Sony deal is real and remains silent about it. The developer putting blame on xbox hardware just hurts their relationship in the long run.
@Kienda
Given this games performance (and what was used to get there) on PS5, we probably have nothing to gloat over....
@CKFilms Xbox can't afford to hold a grudge at this point
@Fiendish-Beaver
Even though i think the xbox delay is more to do with dev time / sales priorities, its an interesting point you raise - the longer this carries on the worse it looks for xbox.
Maybe in a few days Sony can release a statement of "We have no exclusivity deal in place with GS for BMW. In addition, we would prefer not to comment on whether user base or Series S scaleability have in any way caused this delay".
This whole “controversy” feels completely fabricated. I think what likely happened is a small dev team was struggling to meet the release date on both PS5 and Xbox and Sony gave them cash/resources to hit the release date in line with the China Hero Project. The devs accepted knowing that Xbox would be an extremely small portion of their overall sales. No controversy there.
@S1ayeR74 the main thing developers struggle with is the RAM on Series S. It's only 10GB, whereas the Steam deck is 16GB. Wukong's minimum requirement on PC is 16GB so makes sense why it's ok on steam deck. Neither platform meet PC minimum GPU spec but the steam deck runs at 800p, so series S would run at maybe upscaled 720p if RAM wasn't a limitation
Considering Sony have proudly advertised times exclusively for just DLC before (i.e CoD), the fact they wouldn't be screaming about exclusively of this game doesn't make sense.
I really don’t see the point of this article. This should be on Pure Xbox page more or less.
I doubt it’s an exclusivity deal anyway.
@Arxagelos if thats the case then why did DF not state that in their weekly direct. What they have said in that is as follows
1. They don't believe the game would work well on the SS unless it was heavily stripped back, and it seems like gamescience are not keen on lowering it that much.
2. The game is UE5.0 and that platform generally works better on PS5 regardless of the game, but does impact how easy it is to get running on SX / SS
3. Both MS and Sony have assisted in getting the game to console, with no mention of exclusivity what so ever.
4. Why Sony allowed the game to launch with the bugs, frame gen and weird settings like performance mode being 45 and no vrr.
At best if you really reach you can say Sony accepted the game to launch with issues so they got the benefit of having it one their console.
However none of that is them saying they know of a secret deal
@Boxmonkey
I disagree. They don't have to say anything. The discourse seems to be helping them. Either way, the game is not on Xbox, whether that is because Sony makes deals to get great games for their fans or the Xbox Series S blows, it's a win for them.
@Kienda But what is going on I still have no clue what the problem is and I don't care. What is MS it's plan or this guy i have no idea why this is such a thing anyway?
@SlipperyFish Ah yes, I forget for some odd reason they reduced the Series S RAM size. It can’t have saved that much cost? That makes sense.
@S1ayeR74 Maybe £20 at most? It's also "split" 8GB/2GB, 2GB being reserved for the OS, so games pretty much only have 8GB RAM to run off. The Series X uses a weird 10GB/6GB "split" where they run different bandwidths as well. VS PS5 using 16GB RAM all the same bandwith +512MB SSD Cache. By split, I don't mean the ram is physically split like PS3 or older consoles, but it's still one unit.
I suppose PlayStation have really learned from the PS3 days to make their hardware simpler which makes for better optimization. I wish PS5 went for more GPU cores at a lower clock speed though but you can't have it all I guess.
But yeah sorry, from what I've read, the 10GB RAM on Series S has been the source of a lot of the problems developing for it. People had problems with Borderlands 3 crashing on Series S with a "run out of memory" error screen.
@Ilyn They mention it in their article in eurogamer
"News journalists with good track records have corroborated the Sony exclusivity angle (and to be clear, we've heard the same ourselves from sources with good knowledge of the situation) and the fact that Microsoft itself heavily hinted at such a deal being in place adds extra weight"
@Arxagelos I was not aware of the article, but was commenting on the DF direct from youtube. It still seems meangless to me tho because in type Rich says they have heard this, but on video says no one knows, and when the other comentator says they don't believe the secret deal exists also stays quiet and never mentions that they have had it confirmed
So clearly not that credible a source. Its all just Trust me bro
Why can’t gamers have their preferred platform and just be happy to play games. I’m in favor of having no exclusive games in either platform . In fact , for multiplayer games , it is better to have across the platforms as it will increase player base and matchmaking times . I’m so sick of this ‘war’ and the fan boys . Some of you trash talk Xbox but are happy when they release games on ps like sea of thieves and Indy , but will go ape s**t if Sony put god of war on Xbox (which they basically did with pc ) I have all consoles and I prefer some games on one and others on another and it’s all down to my friends and what they own and on what platform . Can’t people just stop defending brands as though their lives depend on it . It’s pathetic . You would not do this with other brands like coffee , wine , chocolate , clothing etc . Let everyone enjoy all games cause isn’t that the point ? Games for everyone to play. Also, you may defend Sony in so many articles and hate on Xbox or others , but do you really think Sony as a corporation really care about you? They want money and that’s all. Look at that concord . It failed as a business decision . Clearly that shows they don’t care by releasing that garbage . Yet you think they care if they sign exclusivity . They only care about money. Clearly many of which moan and groan all the time have literally no lives at all.
To summarize - it’s a fkin game . Get over it !
If it is indeed a timed exclusive, Sony would've been all over this for marketing reason. MS just couldn't stop lying about their ***** console.
If you actually believe that this is a timed exclusive, I have an X-Box original exclusive to sell you.
Removed - unconstructive feedback
@kailun quite clearly you are missing the point..its not about brand loyalty to be perfectly honest but more about the muck raking and quite frankly disturbing amount of faith being put into rumours started by IGN and being reported upon by another reputable video game news site without having any shred of evidence whatsoever..its not what I expect from journalists that pride themselves on putting out useful information (something pushsquare usually do and do it very well) but on this occasion they are lowering their standards to wallow in the depths being plumbed by IGN and other undesirables...I'm very disappointed with pushsquare at the moment and i'm equally disappointed with people who think this is Sony fanboys having a strop over exclusivity deals. It's more than that.
xbox got 5 systems out and no games
Said it on Pure, I'll say it here. This could easily be MS just trying to insinuate something by denying it with cute corporate words.
OTOH, if Sony and Game Science are ghosting all media, including Push's request for comment, while Sony has commented on Forbes articles multiple times in the past when untrue, WHILE a competitor is directly insinuating dealmaking, there is either truth to it they can't deny, or they are "doing an Xbox" and generating their own bad PR by not getting in front of bad PR.
If it was an exclusivity deal than both Game Science and Playstation would say so like normal exclusive deals, but neither have said so. Playstation did give resources to Game Science to help port it to PS5, now nobody knows if that was tech support or money so not sure if they had some kind of 'off the record' deal but that would be a first and very unusual. Looking at how heavy the game is on PC and PS5 I would reckon the Series S version would have to be scaled back quite considerably, I find it difficult to believe Game Science haven't had issues with the Series S version and are probably after the same kind of resources from Xbox as Playstation provided.
They're lying. They're using this lie to hide the fact that the Xbox Series S is a piece of **** (which everyone knows already). It's not like they can actually come out and admit that the Series S is garbage.
The fear they have of their investors pours through every sentence of Xbox's statement. Here goes the stock price!!!
Microsoft trying to act like the victim and throwing words around.
They did that last time and it turned out to be xbox series s again and again and again.
They may aswel just pull the plug on consoles.
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