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Configure Pricing and availability for a game

Important

This topic describes features that are only available to Managed Creators with appropriate permissions. For details, speak to your Microsoft contacts.

Important

The product configuration described below can be accessible via “web scraping” (or data scraping) technology before the first scheduled date. If this isn't your intent, please utilize the Private Audience or Disable Store Presence options to protect your product’s listing up until the first scheduled date.

With Private Audience, your Product Details Page (PDP) is only visible to a user group of your choosing, and it offers the ability to schedule when the product’s availability transitions from private to public. See Visibility - Audiences for more information.

With Disable Store Presence, the product won't have a PDP, be testable, or be redeemable via token until your first scheduled date. See the Disable store presence section for more information.

This article describes how to complete the Pricing and availability page in Partner Center.

Prerequisites

Navigate to the Pricing and availability page

  1. Sign in to Partner Center.
  2. On the Home page, select Apps and games.
  3. On the Apps and games | Overview page, select your title. Or, enter your game's name in the search bar and then select your game.
  4. On the Game overview page, select Pricing and availability from the left navigation pane.

Important

Xbox Play Anywhere

If you're configuring the Pricing and availability for an Xbox Play Anywhere Game, your configuration will be used for Xbox consoles and PC. For example, the Release date and Price you configure will be the same on both device families. You can't configure different settings for each device family.

Markets

  1. Navigate to the Pricing and availability page.
  2. On the Pricing and availability page, check that you're on the Main branch or tab. To learn more about branching, see Branching and sandboxes.
  3. Go to the Markets section, select Show options to choose the markets you want your title to be available in. Don't select any markets that you don't have an age rating for.
  4. Select OK to save your choices. The number of markets selected is reflected on the page. If all 240 markets are selected, Your product will be available in 240 of 240 markets is displayed.
  5. Select or deselect the Make my product available in any future market at the base price and general availability date checkbox as desired.
  6. After defining the markets, select Save draft.

Tip

If you're only releasing the game on Xbox consoles, select Xbox markets from the dropdown menu to choose from the subset of Xbox markets. To choose individual markets on your own, select Unselect all and then select the markets you want.

Visibility

The Visibility section allows you to configure how and when your game can be discovered and acquired. There are three separate sections within the Visibility section: Audience, Discoverability and Advanced discoverability.

Audience

Note

For more information about Public and Private Audience, see Visibility - Audiences.

  1. Navigate to the Pricing and availability page.
  2. On the Pricing and availability page, make sure you're on the Main branch or tab.
  3. Go to the Visibility section. By default, the Store PDP is visible to a public audience. Select Enable Private Audience to restrict visibility of the PDP so that it can only be viewed by a specific user group.
  4. After defining the private audience, select Save draft to save your settings for this section.
  5. Select Create a new group.
  6. On the Create a new group page, enter a suitable group name, select Known user group, enter your the email addresses for the users that should have access, then select Save.
  7. Return to the Pricing and availability page, then select the new group for the Private Audience configuration.
  8. Select Save draft to save your settings for this section.

Important

When you're ready to start public testing or release your game to everyone, select End Private Audience Restrictions on and specify a date and time for the restrictions to end. After this date and time, the game will be visible to a public audience. It can't be reconfigured for a private audience after this date and time.

Discoverability

  1. Navigate to the Pricing and availability page.
  2. On the Pricing and availability page, make sure you're on the Main branch or tab.
  3. Go to the Discoverability section.
  4. Select Make this product available and discoverable in the Microsoft Store
  5. Select Save draft to save your settings for this section.

After you publish this configuration, users in the destination sandbox will be able to discover and view your product based on the Schedule.

Advanced discoverability

If your game is configured for a Public Audience, select Disable store presence (no promotional codes, no deeplink), prior to the first scheduled date if you don't want your game to have a presence in the Microsoft Store prior to first date configured in the Schedule. This means your PDP will not be visible until the first scheduled date.

Schedule and Display release date

Note

You won't be able to configure dates in the Schedule section if you've selected Make this product available but not discoverable in the Microsoft Store in the Discoverability section.

Configure Schedule

  1. Navigate to the Pricing and availability page.
  2. On the Pricing and availability page, make sure you're on the Main branch or tab.
  3. Go to the Schedule section, select Show Options.
  4. For Release, select at and then set your game's release date and time.
    • UTC: The time you select will be Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), so that the product is available in all specified markets at the same time.
    • Local: The time you select will be local to each specified market. Note that for markets that include more than one time zone, only one time zone in that market will be used. For more information, see Global Time Zones.
  5. For Discoverable in the Microsoft Store, select at Release.
    • The product will be discoverable via search at the configured Release date.
  6. For Stop acquisition, select never.
  7. For No longer discoverable in the Microsoft Store, select never.
  8. After editing the schedule, select Save draft.

Select Customize for specific markets if you want to have a different release date and time from the base schedule you've configured above. Repeat the steps above as needed for each specific market.

Display release date

If you need to show a release date in the Microsoft Store PDP that is different than the Release date in configured Schedule, select Show Options and then select the checkbox. You can then specify the release date (UTC).

Pricing

The Pricing section of the Pricing and availability page lets you define the price of your game.

The Base price sets the suggested price in all markets you've chosen to release your game. The price will be converted into corresponding price tiers for the markets where your product is available. Additionally, you have the option to override the base price for specific markets by selecting a new price tier or entering a free-form price in the market's local currency.

Other price change functionalities include scheduling a price change.

Configure price

Use the Base price to set the price. The price selected is the Suggested price. After selecting a price, review the corresponding wholesale price for the product. Microsoft reserves the right to changes the retail price without notice.

  1. Navigate to the Pricing and availability page.
  2. On the Pricing and availability page, make sure you're on the Main branch or tab.
  3. Go to the Pricing section and select Show options
  4. Select the primary target platform for your product (Xbox or Desktop)
  5. Set the base price and specify the currency.

The Store automatically converts the retail base price for all markets for you. Select view conversion table to see how prices are converted. When customers view your game, the base price will show up converted in their local currency.

To override the base price for any specific market, select Customize for specific markets and then select the markets for price override.

Configure a Free trial

To attract customers, you can allow them to try out your game for free using the trial functionality provided by the Store. No free trial is the default option, meaning there isn't a trial for your game. If you'd like to offer a trial, select Time-limited, Usage-limited or Unlimited from the Free trial dropdown.

  1. Navigate to the Pricing and availability page.
  2. On the Pricing and availability page, make sure you're on the Main branch or tab.
  3. Go to the Free trial section. Select Show options.
  4. Open the dropdown menu and select the correct type of trial for your product.
  5. Configure the options for the trial and specify the Starts on and Ends on date and time.
  6. Note that you can select specific markets for your trial. Select Customize for specific markets and then make your selections in the Market selection window.
  7. Select Save draft.

Note

For more information about game trials, see Trials overview.

Sale pricing and Free to use

Sale pricing and free to use scenarios for game products can only be configured by Microsoft. For more information, see Availability - markets, pricing, release schedule.

Next steps