79 lines
3.4 KiB
Text
79 lines
3.4 KiB
Text
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.. _doc_consoles:
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Console support in Godot
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========================
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Console publishing process
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--------------------------
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Regardless of the engine used to create the game, the process to publish a game
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to a console platform is as follows:
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- Register a developer account on the console manufacturer's website, then sign
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NDAs and publishing contracts. This requires you to have a registered legal
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entity.
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- Gain access to the publishing platform by passing the acceptance process. This
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can take up to several months. Note that this step is significantly easier if
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an established publisher is backing your game. Nintendo is generally known to
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be more accepting of smaller developers, but this is not guaranteed.
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- Get access to developer tools and order a console specially made for
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developers (*devkit*). The cost of those devkits is confidential.
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- Port the engine to the console platform or pay a company to do it.
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- To be published, your game needs to be rated in the regions you'd like to sell
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it in. For example, in North America, the `ESRB <https://www.esrb.org/>`__
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handles game ratings. In Europe, this is done by
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`PEGI <https://pegi.info/>`__. Indie developers can generally get a rating
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for cheaper compared to more established developers.
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Due to the complexity of the process, the budget to publish a game by yourself on a
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single console often exceeds $1,000 (this is a rough figure).
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Official support
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----------------
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Godot supports the Linux-based Steam Deck. The reason other consoles are not
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officially supported are:
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- To develop for consoles, one must be licensed as a company.
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As an open source project, Godot does not have such a legal figure.
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- Console SDKs are secret and covered by non-disclosure agreements.
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Even if we could get access to them, we could not publish
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the platform-specific code under an open source license.
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- Consoles require specialized hardware to develop for, so regular individuals
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can't create games for them anyway.
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However, it is still possible to port your games to consoles thanks to services
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provided by third-party companies.
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.. note::
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In practice, the process is quite similar to Unity and Unreal Engine, except
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that you need to contact a third-party developer to handle the porting
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process. In other words, there is no engine that is legally allowed to
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distribute console export templates without requiring the user to prove that
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they are a licensed console developer. Doing so would violate the console
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manufacturer's NDA.
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Third-party support
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-------------------
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Console ports of Godot are offered by third-party companies (which have
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ported Godot on their own). These companies also offer publishing of
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your games to various consoles.
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Following is the list of providers:
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- `Lone Wolf Technology <http://www.lonewolftechnology.com/>`_ offers
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Switch and PS4 porting and publishing of Godot games.
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- `Pineapple Works <https://pineapple.works/>`_ offers
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Switch, Xbox One & Xbox Series X/S (GDK) porting and publishing of Godot games (GDScript/C#).
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- `RAWRLAB games <https://www.rawrlab.com/>`_ offers
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Switch porting of Godot games.
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- `mazette! games <https://mazette.games/>`_ offers
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Switch, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S porting and publishing of Godot games.
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If your company offers porting, or porting *and* publishing services for Godot games,
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feel free to
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`open an issue or pull request <https://github.com/godotengine/godot-docs>`_
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to add your company to the list above.
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