Determining console locale and language

wchar_t localeName[LOCALE_NAME_MAX_LENGTH];
int retVal = GetUserDefaultLocaleName(localeName, ARRAYSIZE(localeName));
// The value is returned in localeName.

1. Languages declared in MicrosoftGame.config.
2. Languages declared in the package layout file.
3. Language selected on the device.

char gameLocale[LOCALE_NAME_MAX_LENGTH];
HRESULT hr = XPackageGetUserLocale(_countof(gameLocale), gameLocale);
if (SUCCEEDED(hr))
{
    printf("Game using locale: %s\n", gameLocale);
}

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Examples

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1. User locale matches a supported resource

<Resources>
    <Resource Language="en-US"/>
    <Resource Language="fr-FR"/>
    <Resource Language="de-DE"/>
    <Resource Language="en-GB"/>
</Resources>

• XPackageGetUserLocale returns fr-FR.
• GetUserDefaultLocaleName returns fr-FR.

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2. User locale not in manifest, but same language exists

<Resources>
    <Resource Language="en-US"/>
    <Resource Language="fr-FR"/>
    <Resource Language="de-DE"/>
</Resources>

• XPackageGetUserLocale returns en-US (fallback within same language).
• GetUserDefaultLocaleName returns en-GB (always the console value).

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3. User language not present at all

<Resources>
    <Resource Language="en-US"/>
    <Resource Language="de-DE"/>
</Resources>

• XPackageGetUserLocale returns en-US (first entry in Resources).
• GetUserDefaultLocaleName returns fr-FR.

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Summary

• GetUserDefaultLocaleName — what the console is set to, ignoring the game’s declared languages.
• XPackageGetUserLocale — which language to load, using this logic:
  1. If user’s locale is in MicrosoftGame.config, return it.
  2. Otherwise find a same-language locale in the manifest (best fallback based on user’s locale).
  3. Otherwise return the first locale in Resources.
  4. If no languages are listed, return the console language.

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See also

• XPackageGetUserLocale
• MicrosoftGame.config localization

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Related API documentation

• XGameRuntime features reference — XGameRuntimeLocale for the active locale
• XPackage API reference — locale-aware package resource queries