Xbox game publishing overview for Managed Creators

This guide aims to help Managed Creators understand and navigate the end-to-end development and publishing process used to release products for Xbox consoles and Xbox on PC. Managed Creators have a dedicated Microsoft account team or are registered with ID@Xbox. Use the links in this site's navigation menu to find topics for each step in the process.

Use this guide in addition to the Xbox Publisher Guide. The Xbox Publisher Guide contains useful documents and forms related to processes detailed throughout this guide. To access the Xbox Publisher Guide, sign in using the account you use for Microsoft Partner Center. If you have trouble signing in, speak to your Microsoft contacts.

If you're not sure who your Microsoft contacts are, see Who are your Microsoft contacts?Authorization required for more information.

1. Register as a new Managed Creator

Before you begin to develop and release games for Xbox, you'll need to register as a new managed Creator. If you're registering for the ID@Xbox program, begin the sign-up process at xbox.com/publish. If you're already working with Microsoft, follow the guidance provided by your Microsoft contacts.

During the sign-up process, you'll sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA), tell us about your game, receive necessary agreements for game development using the Xbox Game Development Kit (GDK), and create an account for Microsoft Partner Center. Partner Center is the portal you'll use to create, configure, and publish your products for Xbox. You'll also be able to manage user access to your account and products.

For more information, see Onboarding as a new Managed Creator.

2. Submit your Game Concepts

Before you can develop and publish an Xbox game, you'll need an approved Game Concept. If you're a new managed Creator, you'll tell us about your first Xbox game during registration. All Managed Creators can submit additional Game Concepts via the Xbox Game Submission Form. Game Concepts provide Microsoft with information about your product, such as who is developing it, who is publishing it, a description of the game and its key features, and the expected release date.

After your Game Concept has been submitted and approved, you might need to sign a publishing agreement with Microsoft before you can begin development with Xbox features. If so, you'll receive full instructions after receiving concept approval.

For more information, see Submitting Game Concepts.

3. Plan your Xbox products

Whether you're planning to release an Xbox Play Anywhere game or a game only for Xbox consoles, product planning is an important step in the process as you decide how and where you'll release your game. It'll help you understand the products that you need to create in Partner Center, and the way you need to configure them. You might decide that you'll make multiple editions (SKUs) of your game available to players, like a standard edition and a deluxe edition, with each containing different products. You might also have plans for a Wish List page, or a pre-order. Share this product planning information with your Microsoft contacts as early as possible. They'll be able to review your plans and provide you with feedback or seek any additional necessary approvals.

For more information, see SKU planning.

4. Create and configure your products in Partner Center

Using Partner Center, you can create any products that you might need at any time. In general, after you confirm your SKU plan, it's a good time to make sure you have each of the products created. You might need to create a Game, Game Bundle, Game Demo, or add-ons such as Durables, Consumables, or a Season Pass.

Depending on the type of product you need to create, you might have to reserve a product name or request additional product onboarding by your Microsoft contacts. For example, Game, Game Demo, and Game Bundle products always require that you share the Store ID with your Microsoft contacts so that appropriate permissions for Console and PC publishing can be applied.

After you create a new product, you can work through each of the modules in Partner Center, such as Age ratings, Store listings, Pricing and availability, and Gaming metadata, to provide the necessary information, assets, and availability configuration for your product to release.

For more information, see Creating and onboarding products.

5. Develop your game with Xbox services

When developing your game using the Game Development Kit, you'll need to connect your game build to Xbox services. After creating and onboarding a Game product in Partner Center, you'll have access to enable Xbox services in the Game setup page. Once Xbox services are enabled, you'll be able to configure Achievements, Rich Presence, Multiplayer services, and more.

For more information, see Get started with the Microsoft Game Development Kit.

6. Submit your products for Certification

Some of your product's Partner Center modules must be submitted to Certification before you can publish to the RETAIL sandbox (the environment in which customers will access your products). Some modules, such as Store listings and Pricing and availability can be submitted to Certification as soon as the required information has been configured.

The Packages module should be submitted to Certification only after you have a valid game package that's intended for testing by Xbox Certification, to validate your compliance with the Xbox Requirements (XRs) prior to the package's release. You might submit a package for either Optional Certification or Final Certification. Depending on the type of product and the supported platforms, there're different requirements. If you're distributing a game for Xbox consoles on physical discs, you'll need to take some extra steps in Certification. Note that for any product, if you submit a package before it's ready for testing, it might be rejected from Certification.

For more information about the submission process, see Submitting for certification. For more information about the Xbox Certification process, see Certification overview.

For more information about the Xbox Requirements, see Policies and Xbox Requirements.

7. Configure your products for pre-order and release

After you've passed Certification, you're almost ready for release. Before you publish your product to the RETAIL sandbox, you must ensure that all modules in Partner Center are configured as you intend for release to customers. Use your product's Pricing and availability module to configure the markets, visibility, availability, and price as required before you publish.

If you intend to make a product available for pre-order, so that it can be purchased but not played by customers before it's released, see Configuring pre-order products. This topic provides you with information about submitting a pre-order plan for approval, using pre-order bundles, making changes to a pre-order, and testing your pre-order products.

8. Publish your products to RETAIL

Publishing to the RETAIL sandbox is the final step in making your product available to customers. After you've passed Certification and have completed all modules for your product, you can proceed with publishing. Before you publish, make a final check of your configuration to ensure that you have everything as you intend for customers and that you've enabled any features to restrict visibility of your product, such as Private Audience. Some modifications can't be made after you publish to the RETAIL sandbox. For a detailed checklist to review, see Xbox Game Publishing Readiness Checklist.

When you're certain that everything is configured as required, use the Review and publish option in Partner Center and follow the steps to publish your product to the RETAIL sandbox.

For more information, see Publishing to RETAIL.

9. Test your products in RETAIL

After you've published your product to the RETAIL sandbox, test it in this environment before the release. To acquire the product, you can use Promo Codes. If your product is releasing on discs, you can also test using the test discs that you'll receive during the Certification process. Testing can be completed using any device configured for the RETAIL sandbox, for the platform on which your product is available. For example, you can use a PC, an Xbox Development Kit with Developer Mode deactivated, or you can use an Xbox console that you've purchased from a store.

For some general recommendations about what to test for your products, see Recommendations for testing in RETAIL. This guide isn't exhaustive — as the publisher or developer, you'll know your game best, and understand what tests are most applicable.

You might also want to test unreleased products in the RETAIL sandbox or run beta testing. For more information about additional methods of testing in the RETAIL sandbox, see Prerelease testing options.

10. Support your game with post-release updates

After your game has released, you can support it in many ways. For example, Content Updates (CUs), add-on releases (downloadable content (DLC)), participation in managed programs, sale pricing, new Xbox Achievements, and region expansions. If you have plans to use these support mechanisms, speak to your Microsoft contacts for guidance and recommendations.

For more information, see Supporting released games and Post-sale monetization.