Black Myth: Wukong Patch Makes Significant Performance Improvements, but Brace Yourself for a 93GB Download on PS5

A new update for Black Myth: Wukong makes significant performance improvements, but brace yourself for a mammoth 93.3GB download.

On PS5, you’ll need the install space to download the huge update, but during the install process that follows the game itself is rewritten, resulting in the same install footprint or perhaps even lower than before. As a result, if you’re playing on PS5 and short of space, it may be worth uninstalling the game then downloading it again, rather than downloading the update on top of the game itself.

For the PS5 version, patch 1.0.20.21756 improves the game’s loading speed, the clarity of certain textures, CPU and rendering performance in numerous scenarios, memory usage, and the quality of motion blur to mitigate the aliasing issues that occur when the camera pans.

On PC, the patch adds integrated AMD FSR4 support, improves Compatible Mode, and “significantly” improves the lighting quality when Global Illumination is set to low, making it closer to the effect when Global Illumination is set to high.

In a quick overview on social media — and a more detailed outline on developer Game Science’s official website — the studio advised that, as well as the usual bug fixes, the “considerable number of underlying changes” coming in to boost performance not only impacts PS5 hard drives, but also PC mods, which “may cause compatibility issues” and “prevent you from launching the game or triggering error pop-ups during gameplay.” Consequently, the team recommends players uninstall all mods and verify the integrity of files before restarting the game after you apply the latest patch.

The update rolls out across all platforms from today (October 13). Here’s the full list of changes.

Black Myth: Wukong Patch Notes 1.0.20.21756

What to Know Before Patch Installation

Due to the platform’s update mechanism, your computer will need to reserve a certain amount of free disk space (not necessarily on the same disk if you are a Steam user) for temporary storage of the update files. (PC)

• If you have installed any mods in the game, installing the patch may cause compatibility issues. This could prevent you from launching the game, loading your saved games, or triggering error pop-ups during gameplay. We recommend uninstalling the installed mods and verifying the integrity of the game files before restarting the game. (PC)
• The performance optimization this time involves a considerable number of underlying changes, which results in a relatively larger patch size. If the update fails due to insufficient storage or other reasons, please try redownloading the game. (PS5)
• If you encounter unusually large update sizes during patch installation, or if the game gets stuck, crashes, or fails to start after installation, please refer to the Installation/Patch FAQ on our official website.
• This update may require shader recompilation. If you experience crashes during shader compilation, please try restarting the game until the compilation is complete or skip shader compilation.

Experience Improvements

Bosses

Improved the combat experience against Yaoguai King “Giant Shigandang”.

Interaction

• Journeyer’s Chart interface will guide the Destined One to Travel with Keeper’s Shrine before any Journeyer’s Chart has been obtained.
• Improved the readability of the “Cleared” label in the “Load Journey” interface.

Performance

• Integrated AMD FSR4. On compatible hardware, it will be available in the in-game Settings after updating the driver and enabling FSR4 in the driver settings. (PC)
• Improved Compatible Mode. Now, with Compatible Mode enabled, ray tracing, frame generation, and some super-resolution functions will be temporarily disabled to help players avoid game launch failures caused by driver, hardware, or system abnormalities. (PC)
• Adjusted the default graphics settings for certain graphics cards to match the various graphical changes in the current game version. (PC)
• Significantly improved the lighting quality when Global Illumination is set to low, making it closer to the effect when Global Illumination is set to high. (PC)
• Adjusted Performance Mode back to 60Hz, reducing input latency and achieving higher resolution than before. However, the lighting quality level has been adjusted to enhance performance. The original Performance Mode is still retained and renamed “Performance Mode (Legacy)”. (PS5)
• Improved the game’s loading speed. (PS5)
• Improved the clarity of certain textures. (PS5)
• Improved CPU and rendering performance in numerous scenarios.
• Improved memory usage in numerous scenarios.
• Improved the quality of motion blur to mitigate the aliasing issues that occur when the camera pans.

Localization

• Added language support for Czech.

Bug Fixes

Bosses

• Fixed an issue where Yaoguai Chief “Top Takes Bottom & Bottom Takes Top” became undefeatable under certain conditions.
• Fixed an issue where the iron ball failed to display properly during battles against Yaoguai Chief “Top Takes Bottom & Bottom Takes Top” under certain conditions.

Performance

• Fixed several issues that caused screen ghosting and edge flickering. (PS5)
• Fixed an issue where XeSS 2.0 failed to enable frame generation on some displays. (PC)
• Fixed an issue where the game might crash on launch when both DLSS 4 frame generation and ray tracing were enabled. (PC)
• Fixed multiple rendering errors in NXSR that caused ghosting and edge flickering, and improved NXSR’s rendering quality. (PC)

Localization

• Fixed text overlapping in the “Make Medicine” interface for certain languages.
• Fixed voiceover and subtitle errors in certain cutscenes.
• Fixed an issue where some text in Settings was not properly localized.
• Corrected translation errors and fixed issues with spelling, capitalization, and terminology consistency in several languages.

IGN’s Black Myth: Wukong review returned an 8/10. We said: “Despite some frustrating technical issues, Black Myth: Wukong is a great action game with fantastic combat, exciting bosses, tantalizing secrets, and a beautiful world.”

It enjoyed enormous success and set sales records. A follow-up is in the works, although it’s early days.

Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world’s biggest gaming sites and publications. She’s also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.