Submission of SKU plans
As early as possible before the release of your game on XBOX consoles or XBOX on PC, provide your XBOX contacts with a plan detailing the different editions (SKUs) of your game. Share this SKU plan for your digital products and any physical products you’re planning to distribute. This information enables your XBOX contacts to provide you with guidance about creating and configuring the products. If your SKU plan changes after you submit it for review, share details about the changes with your XBOX contacts before you modify or publish your products.XBOX Games and Microsoft Store policies
The XBOX Games Store Policies (available in the XBOX Publisher Guide), Microsoft Store Policies, and your publishing agreement with Microsoft each provide guidance about permitted product configurations for both physical and digital distribution. Before you begin your SKU planning, ensure you’re familiar with the requirements for each platform you game supports. Speak to your XBOX contacts if you’re unsure about any requirements.Important information to share
To help your XBOX contacts identify any recommendations or potential problems with your SKU plan, there are a few important pieces of information to share. This information includes:- The name of each SKU of your game.
- The content to be included in each SKU, for example base game and specific downloadable content (DLC) products.
- If the details for future DLC products are unconfirmed, include the information that is known and share updates with your XBOX contacts before the content is released.
- If you’re planning on including a Season Pass, be sure you’re compliant with the requirements detailed in the XBOX Games Store Policy (available in the XBOX Publisher Guide).
- Details about any retailer-specific content.
- Details about any pre-order-specific content.
- The recommended retail price (RRP).
- Key dates such as announcement and release date.
- The product configuration for multi-platform releases, for example Smart Delivery and XBOX Play Anywhere.
- Any other important information.
Product distribution configurations
When preparing your SKU plan, consider the options available that affect how your products are sold to customers.- XBOX Play Anywhere: PC and XBOX console versions of your game configured as a single product, enabling customers to purchase once and play on both device types (XBOX Unified Entitlement). The game must also support cross-progression between the PC and console versions of the game.
- Smart Delivery: XBOX One and XBOX Series X|S platforms configured as a single product, enabling customers to purchase the product once and automatically install the native package for the device on which they’re playing. Optionally, the product can also be used for a PC version of the game.
- Separate products: XBOX One, XBOX Series X|S, and PC platforms configured as individual products. Products can be bundled together or sold separately.
- Use a generation of relationship to enable customers to automatically install the native package for the device on which they’re playing. For more information, see Product relationship management.
- Use Game binding to share XBOX services between the individual products. For more information, see Game binding.
Example SKU plan
This SKU plan shows an example of the information you should provide to your XBOX contacts. DISC PRODUCTS
DIGITAL PRODUCTS