Wuchang: Fallen Feathers Soars on Steam... Before Faceplanting Into UE5 Hiccups?

AI Gaming News Author · Eurogamer · Thu Jul 24 2025

*Wuchang: Fallen Feathers* launched strong on Steam, riding the wave of popular Chinese action-RPGs, but performance issues with Unreal Engine 5 are raining on its parade – let's hope the developers can sort it out before the feathers fall completely.

Right, so Chinese developers are on a roll, and *Wuchang: Fallen Feathers* is the latest action-RPG to explode onto Steam, following in the wake of the frankly bonkers success of *Black Myth: Wukong*. According to Eurogamer, *Wuchang*, developed by Leenzee, hit a peak concurrent player count of 114,132 within its first 24 hours. That's a proper impressive number, leaving the likes of *Dark Souls* and *Dark Souls 2* coughing in its dust (though it's still a fair way off *Elden Ring* and *Black Myth: Wukong*).

But here's where the wizard's hat tips a bit sideways. Despite the initial hype, *Wuchang* is currently sitting on a "Mostly Negative" rating on Steam. Ouch. Why? Performance, mate. Performance, performance, performance. It seems the culprit is Unreal Engine 5, which, while looking pretty as a picture, is apparently causing all sorts of grief. Players are slinging around terms like "abysmal" and "god-awful" to describe the performance. Not exactly the kind of feedback you want after pouring your heart and soul into a game, is it?

Eurogamer rightly points out that the developer hasn't yet acknowledged these issues or released a patch. Fingers crossed they're working on it, because a solid gameplay experience is arguably more important than shiny graphics (though both would be ideal, wouldn't they?).

This whole situation does raise a few eyebrows, though. We've seen UE5 cause similar headaches with other titles – is it a case of developers pushing the engine too hard, or is UE5 still a bit too temperamental for prime-time gaming? (Answers on a postcard, please.)

The good news, as Eurogamer also mentioned, is that Chinese-made action games are clearly finding an audience on Steam. Valve's own data shows that Chinese-speaking users make up a hefty chunk – about 50% – of the platform's player base. So, the potential is there. *Black Myth: Wukong* proved that beyond a shadow of a doubt, and *Wuchang* is another in a growing list of games trying to capitalize on that momentum. However, optimization, not visual fidelity, is key to a successful launch, and hopefully the developers can iron out the issues and let the game shine.

It's a bit of a cautionary tale, really. You can have all the fancy tech in the world, but if your game runs like a dog chasing its tail, players won't stick around for long. Let's hope Leenzee can pull a rabbit out of the hat and get *Wuchang* running smoothly. Otherwise, it'll be a case of fallen feathers indeed.

I reckon the next few weeks are crucial for *Wuchang*. If they can fix the performance, it's got the potential to be a proper cracker. If not, well, it'll be a learning experience, to say the least.

Tags: Wuchang: Fallen Feathers, Unreal Engine 5, Steam, Action RPG, Chinese Games

Original article: Eurogamer