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- .. _doc_consoles:
- Console support in Godot
- ========================
- Console porting process
- In order to develop for consoles in Godot, you need access to the console SDK and
- export templates for it. These export templates need to be developed either by
- yourself or someone hired to do it, or provided by a third party company.
- Currently, the only console Godot officially supports is Steam Deck (through the
- official Linux export templates).
- The reason other consoles are not officially supported are:
- - To develop for consoles, one must be licensed as a company.
- As an open source project, Godot has no legal structure to provide console ports.
- - Console SDKs are secret and covered by non-disclosure agreements.
- Even if we could get access to them, we could not publish the platform-specific
- code under an open source license.
- As explained, however, it is possible to port your games to consoles thanks to
- services provided by third-party companies.
- .. note::
- In practice, the process is quite similar to Unity and Unreal Engine. In other
- words, there is no engine that is legally allowed to distribute console export
- templates without requiring the user to prove that they are a licensed console
- developer.
- Console publishing process
- Regardless of the engine used to create the game, the process to publish a game
- to a console platform is as follows:
- - Register a developer account on the console manufacturer's website, then sign
- NDAs and publishing contracts. This requires you to have a registered legal
- entity.
- - Gain access to the publishing platform by passing the acceptance process. This
- can take up to several months. Note that this step is significantly easier if
- an established publisher is backing your game. Nintendo is generally known to
- be more accepting of smaller developers, but this is not guaranteed.
- - Get access to developer tools and order a console specially made for
- developers (*devkit*). The cost of those devkits is confidential.
- - Port the engine to the console platform or pay a company to do it.
- - To be published, your game needs to be rated in the regions you'd like to sell
- it in. For example, game ratings are handled by `ESRB <https://www.esrb.org/>`__
- in North America, and `PEGI <https://pegi.info/>`__ in Europe. Indie developers
- can generally get a rating for cheaper compared to more established developers.
- Due to the complexity of the process, many studios and developers prefer to
- outsource console porting.
- You can read more about the console publishing process in this article:
- `Godot and consoles, all you need to know <https://godotengine.org/article/godot-consoles-all-you-need-know/>`__
- Third-party support
- Console ports of Godot are offered by third-party companies (which have
- ported Godot on their own). These companies also offer publishing of
- your games to various consoles.
- Following is the list of providers:
- - `Lone Wolf Technology <https://www.lonewolftechnology.com/>`_ offers
- Switch and Playstation 4 porting and publishing of Godot games.
- - `Pineapple Works <https://pineapple.works/>`_ offers
- Switch, Xbox One & Xbox Series X/S (GDK) porting and publishing of Godot games (GDScript/C#).
- - `RAWRLAB games <https://www.rawrlab.com/>`_ offers
- Switch porting of Godot games.
- - `mazette! games <https://mazette.games/>`_ offers
- Switch, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S porting and publishing of Godot games.
- - `Olde Sküül <https://oldeskuul.com/>`_ offers
- Switch, Xbox One, Playstation 4 & Playstation 5 porting and publishing of Godot games.
- - `Tuanisapps <https://www.tuanisapps.com/>`_ offers
- Switch porting and publishing of Godot games.
- - `Seaven Studio <https://www.seaven-studio.com/>`_ offers
- Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series, PlayStation 4 & PlayStation 5 porting of Godot games.
- - `Sickhead Games <https://www.sickhead.com>`_ offers console porting to Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S for Godot games.
- - `W4 Games <https://www.w4games.com/>`_ offers console ports for Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X/S, and Playstation 5 for you to port your game yourself.
- If your company offers porting, or porting *and* publishing services for Godot games,
- feel free to
- `contact the Godot Foundation <https://godot.foundation/#contact>`_
- to add your company to the list above.
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