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User identity and XUser

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Xbox One manages the identity of the users who interact with the game with an XUser object. Each XUser instance represents a user who is signed in to the game. Each user is represented by XUserHandle. Games can do the following by using XUserHandle.

  • Query for the Xbox services sign-in state.
  • Fetch the gamertag of the users.
  • Fetch the gamer picture of the users.
  • Determine the age group of the users.
  • Determine which privileges are allowed for the user who is allowed to participate in real-time communication or participate in multiplayer sessions.
  • Fetch an authenticated token.

Note

Different XUserHandle values could point to the same user. To compare if two different XUserHandle values point to different users, games can use the XUserCompare function.

XUser identifiers

There are two different identifiers associated to a given XUser: the local ID and the Xbox services ID (XUID).

The local ID is an identifier that stays with the user throughout that user's lifetime within the game session. Use the local ID across any processes that a game spawns or if the game calls XLaunchNewGame. However, don't use the
local ID to identify a user across gaming sessions.

To get the local ID for a user, use the XUserGetLocalId function.

The Xbox services ID (XUID) is the identifier that must be used when communicating with Xbox services or when invoking title-callable UI (TCUI). To get the XUID for a user, use the XUserGetId function. User consent might be required to get the XUID. If this consent is required and isn't granted, XUserGetId returns E_GAMEUSER_RESOLVE_USER_ISSUE_REQUIRED. To resolve the issue and collect consent, games should then call XUserResolveIssueWithUiAsync.

XUser states

Users can be in one of three states: they're signed in to Xbox services, they're in the process of signing out of Xbox services, or they're signed out completely. Games can query for this state of a specified user by using the XUserGetState function. Games can also register for change notifications by using the XUserRegisterForChangeEvent function.

Don't judge network connectivity based on the XUser state. If the XUserState is SignedIn, this indicates that at some point the user was authenticated with Xbox services and can be treated as an active user. However, the network might not be connected.

Adding or removing users to game

Unlike the model for the Xbox One ERA, a game can interact only with those users who the game has requested by calling the XUserAddAsync function. For example, suppose that two users are signed in to the console: user A and user B.

  1. Someone launches the game. For this scenario, it doesn't matter who did so.

  2. The game registers for user state changes by using XUserRegisterForChangeEvent.

  3. The game calls XUserAddAsync, and user A signs in to the game.

  4. The game now has XUserHandle that represents user A.

  5. From the guide, user B chooses to sign out.

  6. No sign-in change event is fired to the game. The game never knew about user B.

  7. From the guide, user A chooses to sign out.

  8. The game gets a change event that indicates first that user A is in the process of signing out and then, ultimately, a different event that indicates that user A is now signed out.

While games have the ability to add users to their game, there are only a few ways to remove users by using one of the following methods.

  • The game could close all handles that represent the user by using the XUserCloseHandle function.
  • The user uses the guide to sign out from the console.
  • The user signs in to a different device.

Types of users

Xbox One supports two types of users: Xbox players and guests.

Xbox players have full capabilities as users on the system. They're initially created by adding a new account in the Account Picker, a system-provided UI for signing users in. Xbox players persist on the console until they're removed explicitly with the Settings app.

Xbox guests have a single session on a console. They're created when they choose in the Account Picker to play as a guest and are sponsored by another signed-in Xbox player. Guests persist until they sign out, until the sponsoring Xbox player signs out, or until the console is turned off.

Games that want to allow guests must specify the AllowGuest option when they call XUserAddAsync.

Patterns to add users

Games must always attempt to establish an initial user. There are two primary ways to achieve this.

Option 1: Determining the user as soon as possible without showing UI

  1. Call XUserAddAsync by using AddDefaultUserSilently. This function tries to determine who launched the game without showing any UI.
  2. The call to XUserAddAsync could fail with E\_GAMEUSER\_NO\_DEFAULT\_USER. If this happens, no one was signed in when the game was first launched. To establish the initial user, the game needs to call XUserAddAsync without using the AddDefaultUserSilently flag. Unlike the "silent" option, this call ensures that all issues with consent are fully resolved and that if the call succeeds, the user is signed in to Xbox services. The game can create an Xbox context for that user.

Option 2: Determining the user with the possibility of showing UI

Call XUserAddAsync by using AddDefaultUserAllowingUI. Just like the previous option (with "silent"), this function tries to determine who launched the game. Unlike the previous option, if the default user can't be determined, it shows UI to allow players to sign in or select themselves. If XUserAddResult succeeds, the game has a user who is fully signed in to Xbox services and the game can create an Xbox context for that user.

For sample code that demonstrates these steps, see How to: best practice to sign in a user.

Managing XUserHandle

Each XUserHandle represents a user. However, it's possible for multiple such handles to each represent the same user. Games should use the following basic pattern.

  1. Maintain a collection of XUserHandle instances that represent the collection of users that the game cares about.

  2. Register for XUser state changes by calling XUserRegisterForChangeEvent. When you see that a user is getting signed out, update your collection users.

  3. When you get a new XUserHandle from XUserAddAsync, be sure to check if this represents a new user. You can directly compare with the handles by using XUserCompare. You can also compare by using the local ID found by calling XUserGetLocalId.

  4. If you have multiple XUserHandle instances representing the same user, use XUserCloseHandle to remove the extra instances.