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Use the Visual Studio Integrated Development Environment (IDE) to create, build, deploy, and debug Microsoft Game Development Kit (GDK) on PC apps. The GDK supports Visual Studio 2019 (16.11) and Visual Studio 2022. For GDK development, use Visual Studio 2019 version 16.11 or the latest Visual Studio 2022 update.
If you install a new edition of Visual Studio after installing the GDK, you can repair the GDK to integrate with the newly installed edition of Visual Studio. This integration isn’t needed for servicing updates.

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In this section

Visual Studio 2022 Support Notes Describes GDK support for Visual Studio 2022, including the supported versions and editions. Visual Studio 2019 Support Notes Describes GDK support for Visual Studio 2019, including the supported versions and editions. Project Templates in Visual Studio for PC Game Development The GDK installs several Visual Studio C++ project templates for making PC game titles. Visual Studio Properties for PC Game Development The GDK has custom Visual Studio property pages that you use to configure PC game projects. Debugging PC projects using Visual Studio Describes how to use Visual Studio in various debugging scenarios. Debugging PC projects on remote Windows devices using Visual Studio Describes how to use the Visual Studio 2022 or Visual Studio 2026 debugger to deploy and debug games running on a remote Windows device over a secure channel. Using Clang/LLVM with the Microsoft Game Development Kit (GDK) Describes how to use the Clang/LLVM support in Visual Studio to build gaming projects.

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See also

Microsoft Game Development Kit on XBOX preprocessor definitions Compiler and linker switch recommendations Visual C++ compiler resources PC game development (environment and tools)
Last modified on October 20, 2026