Xbox is once again setting its sights on making development for the platform as easy as possible. In recent years, the company has reduced onboarding time for developers to as little as 30 minutes, introduced new tools that make testing PC games on Xbox much easier, and, perhaps most interestingly to me, made PlayFab tools free.
For those unfamiliar, PlayFab provides backend services and infrastructure for games, helping developers handle everything from player data and leaderboards to multiplayer features and live service support.
It's also worth mentioning that this is likely part of a broader effort to prepare developers for the future of Xbox hardware. Based on what we've heard so far, that future appears to involve a PC and console hybrid platform, currently known by the codename Project Helix.
Now, onto the latest news. Xbox has revealed the Xbox Godot Sample, an initiative designed to make it easier to bring Godot games to Xbox on PC. For those unfamiliar, Godot is a popular game engine among indie developers and is used in titles such as Slay the Spire 2, Halls of Torment, Brotato, and more.
The Xbox Godot Sample covers a large portion of what Godot developers need to start building for Xbox on PC, including:
- Microsoft GDK platform services
- XBOX services
- PlayFab Core + Services
- PlayFab Multiplayer (Lobby, Matchmaking, Party)
- PlayFab Game Saves
- GameInput (including bridging to Godot’s Input / InputMap)
Unfortunately, this is currently limited to Xbox on PC, but you check the GitHub here. It is worth mentioning that with Xbox working toward a PC and console hybrid future, reducing barriers for PC developers now makes a lot of sense. I also just want to point out that the Godot Engine can already be used to make Xbox consoles games, these updates here are just, however, specifically for Xbox on PC.
Personally, I think stuff like this is great, and I'd love to see Xbox continue making development for the platform as accessible as possible. I've always found these kinds of tools and developer-focused improvements interesting, and it gives me hope for the future of Xbox, but that's enough about me and my thoughts
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