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MicrosoftGame.config additional reference

Summary

This article describes additional details/reference material for the MicrosoftGame.config file. It includes the following sections.

Game configVersion details

As of the March 2022 Microsoft Game Development Kit (GDK), the Game configVersion has been updated from 0 to 1 for new MicrosoftGame.config files generated using Microsoft Game Development Kit (GDK) tools. As of the October 2023 GDK, all titles must use configVersion=“1”. Submission Validator will report a FAILURE for any titles submitting using the October 2023 GDK with configVersion=“0”. The changes between Game configVersion 0 and 1 are as follows.
  • MSAAppId and TitleId element are required if either is specified in the MicrosoftGame.config (i.e. if the TitleId is specified, the MSAAppId must also be specified).
  • MSAAppId and TitleId element are required if NoCodePCRoot element is specified or AdvancedUserModel element is set to the value of false.
  • ModFolder, EnableWritesToPackageRoot, DisableFilesystemWriteVirtualization, and DisableRegistryWriteVirtualization elements have now been deprecated with configVersion 1.
Which requirements, defined in the schema, will be run against a title is defined by this value in the MicrosoftGame.config:
The Game configVersion allows for values of 0 and 1. These new requirements will not impact existing titles upgrading to the March 2022 Microsoft Game Development Kit (GDK) as their Game configVersion will remain set to 0.

Element details

This section details the element name, if required, purpose, parent node, and additional notes for definable elements within the MicrosoftGame.config. Return to the top of this article.

Error codes

The following error codes may be encountered when working with MicrosoftGame.config files. For a complete list, see Error codes.

Sample MicrosoftGame.config file

The following MicrosoftGame.config is an example config showing how elements are used for XBOX Series X|S (with comments on differences for XBOX One). For an example of a MicrosoftGame.config for PC, see Getting Started with Packaging For PC.
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XSD schema for MicrosoftGame.config

The latest schema for the MicrosoftGame.config file is in the <install root>/bin folder of the Microsoft Game Development Kit (GDK) installation as GameConfigSchema.xsd. See the following example of the GameConfigSchema.xsd:
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Previous element reference

  • PrimaryServiceConfig was an element used in XBOX One ERA AppxManifest.xml to define SCID calls. This is now defined in code and configured in DevCenter.
  • VisualElements was an element used in XBOX One ERA AppxManifest.xml to define Store logos and other visual aspects of the title. This is now defined in ShellVisuals.
  • GpuAvailability was an element used in XBOX One ERA AppxManifest.xml to define GPU availability. This is now done automatically as all Microsoft Game Development Kit (GDK) titles automatically get variable settings (as much GPU as possible).
  • ConnectedStorageQuota was an element used in XBOX One ERA AppxManifest.xml to define connected storage size. This is now determined by a server-side setting.
  • LicenseOverrides was an element used in XBOX One ERA debug_licensing_overrides.xml to define overrides for ContentID, ProductID, and EKBID. This is now managed in the MicrosoftGame.config directly with the ContentIDOverride, StoreId, and EKBIDOverride elements.
  • NetworkManifest elements were defined in a previous version of MicrosoftGame.config. These are now done through existing Networking APIs with the exception of the DebugNetworkPortList elements.
  • XboxOneTitleMemoryMaxMB & XboxOneXTitleMemoryMaxMB was an element used in a previous version of MicrosoftGame.config. The XboxOneTitleMemoryMaxMB is no longer configurable and the XBOX One X and XBOX Series S|X elements for Title Memory configuration are now XboxOneXTitleMemory, XboxLockhartTitleMemory, and XboxAnacondaTitleMemory.
  • packageWriteRedirectionCompatibilityShim was previously an ExtendedAttribute value to enable this functionality ahead of the May 2020 GDK. As of the May 2020 GDK, this is now tracked as its own element, EnableWritesToPackageRoot.
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Restricted capabilities configuration

In the Microsoft Game Development Kit (GDK), restricted capabilities are configured via MicrosoftGame.config elements. A mapping of commonly used capabilities is as follows.
  • runFullTrust capability is configured to be enabled by default.
  • customInstallActions capability is configured by the CustomInstallActions element.
Restricted Capabilities require emailing your Account Manager to ensure permissions for these are enabled (this is required in addition to properly updating your MicrosoftGame.config). For more information on these capabilities and how to configure your MicrosoftGame.config to use them in your PC game, see Getting started with packaging titles for PC.

MicrosoftGame.config as part of DLC package creation

For more information on how to generate a MicrosoftGame.config for a DLC package, see Downloadable content (DLC) packages. Return to the top of this article.

See also

MicrosoftGame.config Element Reference
MicrosoftGame.Config
MicrosoftGame.Config Overview
MicrosoftGame.Config Localization
Overview of packaging
PC Bootstrapper
Last modified on October 19, 2026