Game Saves Active Device Changes

Handling Active Device Changes

When a player switches devices mid-session, it’s important to prevent them from accidentally losing progress by playing on multiple devices simultaneously.

The Problem Scenario

Player starts on Device A: Begins playing and becomes the “active” device
Player switches to Device B: Logs in and chooses “Sync Last Saved Data”
Device B becomes active: Device A is no longer the active device, but may not know this
Risk of lost progress: Player could continue playing on Device A, creating conflicting save states

The Solution: Active Device Callbacks

Listen for active device changes and gracefully handle the transition:

// Set up the active device changed callback during initialization
hr = PFGameSaveFilesSetActiveDeviceChangedCallback(
    optionalTaskQueue,                    // Use nullptr for immediate callback
    MyActiveDeviceChangedCallback,        // Your callback function
    contextPtr);                          // Optional context for your callback

Callback Implementation Example

void MyActiveDeviceChangedCallback(void* context)
{
    // The current device is no longer active for Game Saves
    
    // 1. Pause the game immediately
    
    // 2. Inform the player what happened
    // with a message such as:
    // "Your game progress is being continued on another device."
    // "Returning to main menu to prevent data loss."
    
    // 3. Return to a safe state (main menu)
    
    // 4. Re-initialize Game Saves system when ready to play again
    // (The player will need to sync again from the main menu)
}

XBOX-Specific Exception

If your game only signs in using XBOX’s Single Point of Presence (SPOP) feature, this scenario is automatically prevented. SPOP ensures a user can only be signed in on one XBOX device at a time.

Best Practices

Always implement this callback for multi-platform games
Pause gameplay immediately when the callback triggers
Clearly explain to players why they’re being returned to the menu
Make re-entry easy by returning to main menu rather than closing the game

XBOX Services

PlayFab

Handling Active Device Changes

The Problem Scenario

The Solution: Active Device Callbacks

Callback Implementation Example

XBOX-Specific Exception

Best Practices

​Handling Active Device Changes

​The Problem Scenario

​The Solution: Active Device Callbacks

​Callback Implementation Example

​XBOX-Specific Exception

​Best Practices

Handling Active Device Changes

The Problem Scenario

The Solution: Active Device Callbacks

Callback Implementation Example

XBOX-Specific Exception

Best Practices