A new game developer program from Microsoft allows for fast, simultaneous publishing of Xbox Live-enabled games to Xbox One and Windows 10.
Announced at this week’s Game Developer Conference, the Xbox Live Creators Program is currently in preview. Developers who sign up gain access to the Xbox Live Creators SDK, and can integrate the following features into their games, according to Microsoft:
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Xbox Live sign-in and profile, including gamertag.
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Xbox Live presence, recently played and activity feed.
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Xbox Live social, including friends, Game Hubs, clubs, party chat, gameDVR and Beam broadcast.
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Xbox Live leaderboards and feature stats.
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Title Storage and Connected Storage.
Participating developers can build games using Construct 2, MonoGame, Unity and Xenko, then ship them to either Xbox One, Windows 10 or both. Games built under the program will appear in a special ‘Creators’ section in the Xbox Store.
The new program aims to simplify the process for getting games into the Xbox Store without the need for a lengthy certification or concept approval. Developers can apply here and start building, with Microsoft saying publishing will be available in the near future.
However, the Xbox Live features available under the Creators Program are limited. Anyone who wants to take advantage of the full set of Xbox Live features, plus marketing and development support, will still need to join Microsoft’s existing ID@Xbox program.