Memory leak, not Xbox Series S, behind Black Myth: Wukong Xbox delay

It looks like it will be a while before Xbox players can identify with this scene in Black Myth: Wukong.

While PlayStation 5 and PC gamers have enjoyed Game Science's version of Journey to the West, Xbox gamers will have to wait indefinitely to play Black Myth: Wukong. Now we may finally know why.

According to insiders at Gamescom 2024, Black Myth: Wukong has already failed Xbox certification twice, mainly due to a memory leak issue. The memory leak causes significant crashes that not only affect 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 hard to resolve the issue and optimize the game for Xbox Series S and X. However, due to the rigorous certification process, the development team will have to overcome many hurdles before receiving approval to release on Xbox.

Previously, many blamed the Xbox Series S for the lag, similar to what happened with Baldur's Gate 3. But now it's clear that the game itself has flaws. The PS5 version of Black Myth: Wukong is not without memory leak issues. The same problem occurs after about five hours of continuous play on Sony's console.

However, it's still possible that the X Series S's weaker hardware – the X Series S has just 8GB of usable RAM compared to the X Series X and PS5's 10GB – is a factor. We can't underestimate the additional burden on developers to optimize for the more powerful Xbox Series X and the less powerful Xbox Series S, potentially resulting in lag or performance degradation. The mandatory requirement may limit the potential of cross-platform titles, if it isn't already having a negative impact.

The memory leak problem is not just a matter of optimization, but a fundamental bug that needs to be fixed. Simply put, a memory leak occurs when a game does not properly clear memory before reusing it, resulting in increased memory consumption over time. While restarting the game or console may temporarily fix the problem, it is not a sustainable solution for a commercial release.

On a positive note, this incident highlights Xbox's rigorous certification process, which aims to maintain a higher standard of quality for games released on the platform. However, this commitment to quality comes at the cost of delayed releases and frustration for Xbox players, who cannot feel like they are always left out.

Not to mention, this allowed PlayStation to use an exclusive title for free for the second year in a row, without having to pay any money for it.

Despite growing criticism over poor optimization and the lack of a day-one patch, Black Myth: Wukong continues to soar in popularity. The game's weaknesses and lack of optimization have only led to calls for Sony to release the PS5 Pro sooner rather than later. More importantly, the game won over non-console gamers in China and helped Steam surpass the 37 million concurrent user mark. It's a major failure for Xbox, possibly even bigger than Baldur's Gate 3 last year.

Currently, Game Science continues to work on optimizing Black Myth: Wukong for Xbox Series S and X and plans to announce a release date once certification is passed. Fans are assured that the Xbox version is “nearing completion,” but the timeline for fixing the game's memory leak issue remains uncertain.