Microsoft Lets Anyone Develop ‘Universal Windows’ Games for Xbox One

Microsoft announced the Xbox Live Creators Program at the Game Developers Conference. This should enable everyone as a developer to release UWP games simultaneously on Windows 10 and the Xbox One.

In the announcement, Microsoft writes that the program aims to enable everyone “to quickly publish Xbox Live games on Windows 10 and the Xbox One in a new way.” For example, it is possible to build Xbox Live functions into UWP games and then publish them. A special page shows that this concerns functions such as logging in with Xbox Live, the leaderboard and various social functions. Developers who want access to more features, such as achievements and multiplayer, must do so through the separate ID@Xbox program.

Games released under the program will be featured in a separate Creators section of the Xbox One Store and in the Windows 10 Store. Microsoft has released an SDK for developers to get started with. Initially, not everyone will have access to the new program, but that should change over time. There is support for several engines: Construct 2, MonoGame, Unity and Xenko. No devkit is required, as development is possible on a regular Xbox One, according to Microsoft.