Unleash Your Game’s Potential: Mastering Compliance QA

Greetings to all game creators, developers, and artisans…

You might find yourself on this journey in which you have to navigate the certification waters, but don’t worry our compliance group can help you navigate them and offer support at every step.

We have for you a small guide that will explain what you have to do, and how and where can we ease the load for you on this journey, thus tackling this challenge.

By now you are probably aware that there are 3 major platform holders (Microsoft, Nintendo, Sony), each with their requirements and processes – although most of them are similar, as each platform holder wants the product on their platform to be at its very best, they also have a variety of requirements and processes that make the compliance process convoluted and confusing sometimes.

Throughout this journey, there will be moments when you find yourself at different crossroads, each path will bring its new challenges but also offer different rewards, one such crossroads will be which platforms to pursue first:

Nintendo

At this time there’s only one console you will have to target, there are a couple of different approaches depending on the type of title you are developing, but if it’s a more traditional type of game – meant to be played on the TV with a controller, the process should be straightforward. Keep in mind that if the game uses different types of play styles (touch screen, motion controls, IR camera, or peripherals), this will introduce additional complexity, and the SKUs targeted will be different.

The submission process for Nintendo is called Lotcheck, and as with all other platforms you will have to schedule in advance for at least 2 Lotcheck passes, each submission will take up to 6 business days depending on the title complexity and type of content released (Demos, patches and DLCs will take less time than a normal submission)

Sony

For the PlayStation platform, you can opt-in to release the title on either PS4, PS5, or both. Each sub-platform will need its own submission and they have different requirements, most of which are common, but they still have to be considered as independent platforms and treated as such.

The submission process for Sony Platforms starts by scheduling a certification from the CertOps team, the time of completion depends on the title complexity and amount of features it has (Multiplayer, Leaderboards, Dedicated Servers, etc.) as well as the type of submission (Full title, Patch, Expansion, DLCs, etc.), and it can be up to 6 working days.

Microsoft

Xbox is treated more like a storefront rather than a console, as a result, Xbox requirements for the most part are written platform agnostic you might target (PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series) and there are only a couple of requirements that specify the platform and as such those should be met if that platform is targeted for release. For example, you could use Xbox Network services for a mobile app, or target the Xbox PC store, and in this situation, the requirements that you have to comply with are fewer than if you would target Xbox One or Xbox Series consoles.

You can decide to target all platforms at once for simultaneous release, having the title available for all platforms would boost the title’s reach but would also be too much to handle depending on the development team, needless to say, having multiple platforms to target would mean that the workload would be a multiple of the number of platforms targeted. This brings to the forefront the actual dilemma, in reality, it’s all about the time dedicated to compliance effort – the sooner you integrate a compliance process the more headroom you will have to prepare for as many platforms as possible.

Finding the right partner to help better navigate these treacherous waters and have a smooth sail toward the release deadline and beyond is very important, and we believe that we are the right one for the job.

How exactly you may ask? Well, let me tell you some of the services and processes we have in place that will make this a hassle-free process:

• Integrated testing and analysis – We recommend that you include compliance testing as soon as possible and make it an integral part of your development process, just as functional QA helps identify issues that affect players, compliance QA helps identify and address risks against platform requirements. Having us on board sooner means that we will be able to understand the product, form connections with the development team, and offer curated support like – custom test plan, round-the-clock regression, feature checks when they are implemented, feedback, and advice on how to implement features that are in alignment with platform holders from the very beginning.
• Risk Assessment – we can offer feedback and reports on the state of the product, how likely it is for it to pass certification, and what are the critical features that need extra attention and focus. We can also offer advice on potential waivers if features that are implemented need approval from 1^st party before submitting them for certification.
• Continuous support – even after the title is released, you will still need to submit patches, expansions, DLC, etc. through the same certification process – and we can still offer compliance support for the new content that you develop. Working with the same partner that helped with the initial release will make the additional releases an even smoother process. We can plan the compliance checks so they fall in line with your new milestones, and we can easily adapt to your needs and changes.
• Curated support – we will have a dedicated member in our team who will be dealing with the project planning and answering all your questions. The purpose of this is for you to not have to deal with requirements and certification, we will do that for you and present only the things that are important for you to decide on – we’ll handle the compliance documentation, give a heads-up with changes/modifications and you do what you do the world creation, and focus on making the best game.
• Adaptable to every project – No matter the current milestone of the project, we can offer support: you need fresh-compliance-eyes on your project, we can perform a quick check from a compliance point of view, or you need additional compliance testing before submitting and you want additional support on the last stretch, or maybe you are in the production stage and you want to integrate a compliance team from the beginning – we can accommodate all of those options.

In conclusion, navigating the compliance process in the game industry may seem daunting, but with the right support and guidance, you can steer your project toward success. Let us help you navigate these waters, so you can focus on what you do best: creating captivating gaming experiences.

Happy deving!

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