XR-003: Title Quality for Submission

Version 2.0, 04/01/2025

Xbox games must meet Xbox quality standards and be fully functional and testable.

Functionally complete and testable

Titles must be fully functional and testable when submitted for certification. This includes all client code, submission artifacts, and downloadable content. Titles must be packaged cleanly with no failures using the current version of Submission Validator. Submission Validator logs must be included with the submission.

Xbox quality standards

Xbox games must function correctly across all game modes and scenarios to meet player expectations.

Title integrity

Titles must be free from severe issues such as crashes, freezes, unplayable frame rates, bugs causing major progression hindrances, or graphical corruption. Game settings, options, and controls must be applied correctly and respect default settings where appropriate. Navigation and content availability should be seamless, with no dead ends or inaccessible menus. Multiplayer functionality must be stable and functional, regardless of the number of players.

Save game compatibility

Game saves and player progress must continue to function following content updates. Additionally, permanent data loss must not occur when loading an updated save with the base disc version.

More information

Inaccurate and incomplete submissions will be rejected from Certification. Make sure to review the Submitting to Xbox Certification in Partner Center documentation prior to submitting for certification. For questions related to submitting to Certification, reach out to your Microsoft contacts.

Submission Validator

Submission Validator isn't a standalone tool that the developer uses. Rather, it's automatically called to check an app whenever the makepkg pack command is used. For more information about syntax and command-line use, see the makepkg reference page.

The types of problems that Submission Validator identifies will grow and evolve over time to work toward the goal of smoothing the way from submission, through certification, and to market. For the current list of problems that Submission Validator detects, see Submission Validator quality checks.

Partner-hosted services

Partner services that are required for the game to run must be functioning and properly configured when submitting to Certification. These services will be verified prior to scheduling the title for test and must remain functional throughout Certification.

Implementation Guidance and Best Practices

Options and settings

Game settings, such as options, controls, and languages apply correctly when updated in game and after terminating and launching the title again. Default settings are respected where appropriate.

Navigation

All navigation commands must function as expected. On consoles, the game must be fully navigable with a controller. There are no dead ends in content, all game menus are navigable, and all content is available.

Localization support

There is no requirement on the amount of localization a title must support. In areas where localized text is supported, the text must be legible regardless of the display setup.

Leaderboards

Titles must allow users to post statistics to all available leaderboards and sort those leaderboards using the filters provided.

Headset state change on console

On console, audio must continue to be heard when a headset is connected, removed, and re-connected. Refer to Comparison of Xbox One Software Development Kit and Microsoft Game Development Kit Audio APIAuthorization required.

Certification test cases

The following table shows which XR-003 test cases apply to your title on console or PC.

003-02 Title Integrity

Configuration

• Refer to the console test bench guide at the bottom of this page to set up your consoles.
• Refer to the PC test bench guide at the bottom of this page to set up your PCs.

Test Steps

1. Sign into an Xbox profile and launch the title.
2. Navigate through all menus, sub-menus, review all features, and complete all game modes.

• Interact with and complete all menu UI, extra content, single player and multiplayer game modes, including any additional features in all supported languages. * Test offline, online, and split screen if applicable. * Test multiplayer game modes with the maximum number of players. * Post statistics to all supported leaderboards.

Expected Result
All titles must provide users with a reliable, fair, consistent, and complete Xbox entertainment experience.

Pass Examples

1. The title can be completed in all game modes.
2. Options set during gameplay are saved after terminating and re-launching the title.
3. All areas of the title can be navigated as expected.
4. Localized text displays correctly in all areas where supported.
5. Users are able to post to leaderboards as expected.

Fail Examples

1. The title crashes at the end of a level or the user is blocked from progressing in any area of the game.
2. Areas of the title cannot be navigated as expected.
3. If the user inverts the horizontal or vertical camera controls with the pause menu, the camera controls do not change in-game.
4. Users are not able to post to leaderboards as expected.
5. A particular game mode cannot be completed if the user has already completed a different mode.
6. Options set during gameplay are reset to default after terminating and re-launching the title.
7. The title is unplayable due to frame rate issues.

003-16 Save-Game Compatibility

Test Steps

1. Sign in to an Xbox profile and launch the game without connecting to Xbox.
2. Play the game and save your progress and settings.
3. Reboot the game and verify that you can load and resume the saved progress from step 2.
4. Connect to Xbox and install the content update for the base title.
5. Verify you can still load and continue your saved progress after the update.
6. Reboot the title, start a new game, and save your progress again.
7. Exit and uninstall the game.
8. Re-install and launch the base game without a connection to the Xbox network.
9. Verify that one of the following occurs:

• You can load and continue your saved progress * The game displays a message indicating the save requires a content update to be installed * The game does not display the save made in step 6

10. Reboot the title and install the content update.
11. Verify you can still load and continue from your saved progress after the update.

Expected Result
A content-updated version of a game must be able to successfully load a save created using the non-content-updated version of the game.

Pass Examples

1. All saves can be loaded successfully by a content-updated version of a title.
2. When launching the base version to load an updated save, the user is notified of missing content and given a reason why the save file could not be loaded, or the saves made in the content-updated version are not visible in the base version.

Fail Examples

1. The content-updated version of the game is unable to load a game save created with a previous version of the title.
2. The base version of the game crashes when loading a save made with the content-updated version of the game.

003-17 Headset State Change

Test Steps

1. Enable Windows Sonic for Headphones as your headset format under Xbox Audio Settings.
2. Attach a pair of headphones to the controller or attach a pair of headphones wirelessly to the Xbox.
3. Boot the title and progress into gameplay.
4. Verify audio is heard through TV and headphones.
5. Unplug headphones, verify audio returns after a short amount of time.
6. Re-plug headphones, verify audio is heard through TV and Headphones.
7. Repeat steps 5-6 throughout the title.

Expected Result
Audio continues to be heard without issue.

Pass Examples

1. Audio returns without issue whenever the headset is removed.
2. Audio returns without issue when headset is connected.

Fail Examples

1. Audio is no longer heard after the headset state changes.
2. Audio is distorted or corrupt after the headset state changes.

003-18 Headset State Change after Suspend

Test Steps

1. Enable Windows Sonic for Headphones as your headset format under Xbox Audio Settings.
2. Attach a pair of headphones to the controller or attach a pair of headphones wirelessly to the Xbox.
3. Boot the title and progress into gameplay.
4. Verify audio is heard through TV and headphones.
5. Suspend the title naturally.
6. Unplug the headphones.
7. Resume the title and verify audio is heard through TV.
8. Re-plug the headphones and verify audio is heard through TV and headphones.
9. Repeat steps 5-8 throughout the title.

Expected Result
Audio continues to be heard without issue.

Pass Examples

1. Audio returns without issue whenever the headset is removed.
2. Audio returns without issue when the headset is connected.

Fail Examples

1. Audio is no longer heard after the headset state changes.
2. Audio is distorted or corrupt after the headset state changes.

003-19 Headset State Change after Connected Standby

Configuration

One console with the following configuration:

• Auto sign-in enabled in Settings -> Sign-in, security & passkey -> Instant sign-in
• Instant-on set in Settings -> Power & Start-up -> Instant-on

Test Steps

1. Enable the Instant-on setting and the Instant sign-in settings on the console (see Configuration).
2. Sign into an Xbox profile with the console set as a user's home console and with a license to the title.
3. Enable Windows Sonic for Headphones as your Headset format under Xbox Audio Settings.
4. Attach a pair of headphones to the controller or attach a pair of headphones wirelessly to the Xbox.
5. Boot the title and progress into gameplay.
6. Verify audio is heard through TV and headphones.
7. Put the console into Connected Standby.
8. Unplug headphones.
9. Turn the console back on and resume the game.
10. Verify audio is heard through TV.
11. Re-plug headphones, verify audio is heard through TV and headphones.
12. Repeat steps 4-11 throughout the title.

Expected Result Audio continues to be heard without issue.

Pass Examples

1. Audio returns without issue whenever the headset is removed.
2. Audio returns without issue when the headset is connected.

Fail Examples

1. Audio is no longer heard after the headset state changes.
2. Audio is distorted or corrupt after the headset state changes.

Console and PC test bench configurations

Console test bench layout

The console test bench layout includes devices from all Xbox console platforms and generations. This comprehensive setup ensures testing covers a wide range of configurations to maintain compatibility and performance standards. For detailed requirements on console platforms and generations, please refer to XR-130: Xbox Console Families and Generations.

The table below provides an overview of the various console settings and configurations utilized in a test bench.

PC test bench layout

Testing a game on various PC hardware configurations is essential for ensuring compatibility, identifying potential issues, and providing an optimal user experience. By testing different display resolutions, video cards, GPUs, and CPUs, developers can ensure that the game performs well across a wide range of setups, leading to a better gaming experience for all players.

The table below provides an overview of the various PC configurations utilized in a test bench.