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Welcome to the Game Publishing Guide (GPG)!
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In the event of any conflict between the information published on this website and any agreement you signed with Microsoft, including the policies incorporated in such agreements, such agreements and policies will govern.
Important
This documentation is continually evolving based on hardware and software innovations and policy updates.
This guide is used by game publishers and developers. This includes XBOX creators, and developers who build games using the Game Development Kit (GDK) and publish to the Microsoft Store on Windows. Use the GPG to help you understand game publishing to XBOX and the Microsoft Store on Windows, and learn more about using Partner Center to create and manage your games.
All game-specific instructions are found in this set of documentation. Because both apps and games are created and managed in Partner Center, they often share the same user flow and instructions for configuration and publishing. If this documentation links you to a set of app instructions, select MSIX for game and App addon for add-on instructions.
Publishing games using Partner Center
To publish a game to XBOX or the Microsoft Store on Windows, you use Partner Center. Partner Center is a web portal used to configure and publish products of all types including games, bundles, and add-ons. Some studios create a Partner Center account as soon as they start development, while others wait until they're in production or when they're close to release. It all depends on what you're developing and what features you need that are accessed or configured using the Partner Center portal. If you're registering for ID@XBOX, you're directed to create a Partner Center account during your onboarding.
After you open your Partner Center account, you create your game, upload your packages (game builds), and provide information such as age ratings, Microsoft Store details, and pricing. When you're ready, you can submit your product for Certification. We test the game packages, and review your Store listings and pricing information. After you pass Certification, you'll publish your product and make it available to customers in the Microsoft Store.
Partner Center also offers many features to help you manage your product and engage with your customers, including:
- Package flighting to specific audiences.
- Details about product ratings and reviews, and mechanisms to respond to customers.
- Promotional codes.
- Reports about your game's health and customer engagement.
In a studio setting, these different teams might want access to Partner Center.
- Management and publishing: Manage pricing, define release markets and release dates. Configure product metadata and Store listing information. Obtain age rating for your product. Monitor game sales and performance in the Microsoft Store.
- Creative: Upload art assets to create engaging Store listings and promotional materials
- Development: Configure XBOX services and publish packages to a sandbox for development and testing. Create and configure add-ons for product. Upload game packages for Certification and release.