Sony TRC and Nintendo Lotcheck - reference

Full detail for the two NDA-gated console regimes, for platform-cert-overview-reference.

NDA note (applies to every clause below). All Sony TRC and Nintendo Lotcheck specifics are behind gated portals - PlayStation DevNet and the Nintendo Developer Portal. They are cited by stable ID ("Sony TRC" / "Nintendo Lotcheck") per PLUGIN_AUTHORING.md Step 4 fallback; partners with portal access should consult the current authoritative revision. Individual clauses are not re-marked NDA in the sections below.

Sony PlayStation Certification (TRC)

Source of truth

• Document: Sony Technical Requirements Checklist (TRC) - gated NDA portal at PlayStation DevNet.
• Per-generation supplements: PS5 TRC supersedes PS4 TRC; PS5 Pro adds 60-Hz / 8K / PS5 Pro Game Boost guidance.

Structure

The Sony TRC is a numbered checklist organised into roughly comparable buckets to the Xbox XR list:

• Functional - title stability, error recovery, save game.
• Trophies - Sony's analogue to Xbox Achievements (exact count / point limits by stable ID).
• Multiplayer - session lifecycle, presence, voice + text chat.
• PSN integration - sign-in, friends, party.
• Content delivery - DLC, patches, packaging.
• Compatibility - generation matrix (PS4 base / PS4 Pro / PS5 / PS5 Pro), Game Boost, backward compatibility.
• Hardware peripherals - DualSense haptics, adaptive triggers, PSVR2 (where applicable).

Submission workflow

Sony documents its high-level publishing workflow publicly via playstation.com/en-us/develop (opens in new window); the per-step TRC details are NDA.

1. QA pre-cert - partner runs internal TRC dry pass.
2. Submission upload - Master to Sony's submission system.
3. Format QA - Sony's QA team validates the build against the TRC.
4. Pass / Fail decision - fail tickets list each TRC clause violated.
5. Re-submit - corrected master goes back through the same workflow.

Severity vocabulary

Sony classifies findings on a severity scale comparable to the Microsoft CFR / SRI split. Each finding lists the TRC clause it violates and the steps to reproduce.

SLAs

Sony does not publish SLAs publicly. Practitioners budget calendar-weeks for a console-game format QA pass; patch / minor-update SLAs are shorter than initial-release SLAs.

Nintendo Lotcheck

Source of truth

• Document: Nintendo Submission Guidelines ("Lotcheck") - gated Nintendo Developer Portal.
• Public-facing partner portal: developer.nintendo.com (opens in new window) (the developer landing page is reachable without NDA but shows only general program info; the Lotcheck document itself requires developer-portal access).

Structure

Nintendo Lotcheck covers analogous buckets:

• Functional and stability - boot, save, error recovery.
• Network play and online services - Nintendo Network authentication, online matchmaking, friend lists, parental controls.
• Profile and user data - Nintendo Account, Mii, save data.
• Storage - microSD / system memory boundaries, save data cloud sync where applicable.
• Compatibility - across Switch hardware revisions (original / Lite / OLED) and Switch 2 where supported, docked vs. handheld mode transitions, joy-con + Pro Controller + detached + paired modes.
• Performance - sustained framerate in handheld vs. docked, thermal behaviour during long sessions.
• eShop metadata + ratings - region-specific (Japan / Americas / Europe / Australia / Korea).

Workflow

The Lotcheck submission workflow is comparable in shape to Sony TRC: pre-cert dry-run, master upload, Nintendo QA pass, fail ticket list keyed to Lotcheck clauses, re-submission. Exact step names and SLAs are NDA.

Notable distinguishing constraints

• Handheld / docked transitions are a Switch-specific test surface with no analogue on Xbox / PlayStation.
• Cartridge + eShop dual delivery complicates patch / DLC layout.
• Joy-Con drift / detached / single-Joy-Con modes add a controller-state matrix beyond the Xbox / PS controller test surface.

Platform certification detail

Per-platform requirement documents, severity codes, and the compatibility bench layout that back the six-category taxonomy in SKILL.md.

Requirement documents by platform (Compliance)

Each requirement maps to test cases with explicit Test Steps, Expected Behavior, and Pass/Fail examples - see Microsoft's Certification Tested Xbox Requirements for Xbox Console Games (opens in new window).

Severity model (Xbox; broadly applicable)

Sony TRC and Nintendo Lotcheck use comparable severity tiers internally (NDA - cite by stable ID).

Compatibility bench layout

The Xbox bench - per the Certification step-by-step guide (opens in new window) - exemplifies the required matrix:

The same matrix logic applies to Sony (PS4 base / PS4 Pro / PS5 / PS5 Pro), Nintendo (Switch original / OLED / Switch 2), and PC (GPU vendor × driver version × OS × DirectX/Vulkan). Microsoft tracks cross-generation requirements under XR-130: Xbox Console Families and Generations (opens in new window). Each bench console also varies Console Language to exercise localized assets in the cert pass.

Steam Direct - reference

Full Steam Direct regime detail for platform-cert-overview-reference.

Source of truth

• Application: partner.steamgames.com/doc/store/application (opens in new window)
• Fee: Steam Direct Fee (opens in new window)
• Content Survey: partner.steamgames.com/doc/gettingstarted/contentsurvey (opens in new window)
• Review Process: partner.steamgames.com/doc/store/review_process (opens in new window)

Workflow

Per the App Review Process (opens in new window):

1. Developer purchases the Steam Direct Fee or obtains an app credit; creates the application in Steamworks.
2. Developer completes the Content Survey (age ratings, content warnings).
3. Developer marks the title "ready for review" - two parallel reviews begin:
   • Store Presence Review - 3-5 business days (plan for 7).
   • Product Build Review - 3-5 business days (plan for 7).
4. On approval, the title can be released on its scheduled date.

Per the same page: "Once your game has been reviewed and approved, there is no need to go through review again."

What is reviewed

Per the same page, the Store Presence Review checks:

• "Your store page should only contain features and content that will be available at launch."
• "Capsule images must display readable product titles / logos."
• "Screenshots must show only gameplay, excluding concept art or marketing materials."
• Description quality, no external links.

The Product Build Review checks:

• "Your product will need to start up properly" across all listed OSes.
• "All supported features listed on the store page will need to be implemented."
• "Your product must use Steam Wallet for any in-game transactions."

Special categories

Per the same page:

• Early Access - requires answering all Early Access section questions before review.
• Adult Content - both store-page and build review required; may exceed standard timeframes.
• Trading Cards - separate 3 - 5 business day review for card assets and drop configurations.

Comparison to console cert

Steam Direct is dramatically lighter than the three console regimes: no equivalent of Xbox XR test cases, no equivalent of Sony TRC bench matrix, no equivalent of Nintendo handheld / docked test surface. The bar is "starts up + features match store page + uses Steam Wallet for IAP" rather than a multi-stage cert pass.

Microsoft Xbox Certification - reference

Full Xbox regime detail for platform-cert-overview-reference. Version-specific notes (XR v16.1, GDK monikers, retired XRs) are consolidated in the skill's "Versioning and deprecation" section.

Source of truth

• Process: Certification step-by-step guide (opens in new window) on learn.microsoft.com.
• Requirements: Xbox Requirements for Xbox Console Games (opens in new window) (currently v16.1, dated 5/01/2026 per the page).
• Test cases: Certification Tested Xbox Requirements and Test Cases (opens in new window).
• PC counterpart: Xbox Network Policies for PC and Mobile (opens in new window).

Stages

Per the Certification step-by-step guide (opens in new window), a submission goes through three stages in order:

1. Submission checks - Submission Validator + malware scan. "Submission Validator gives feedback to developers and allows them to address common problems that would cause titles to fail ingestion into Partner Center and/or Certification."
2. Build verification testing (BVTs) - "a reduced test pass designed to make sure a product is fully testable and configured properly before entering full certification testing".
3. Xbox Requirement (XR) testing - "the bulk of the testing and is where all applicable XR test cases will be validated against your title."

Submission types and SLAs

Per the same guide:

There are two test-pass types:

• Optional submission - paid, tested in CERT.DEBUG sandbox with red-signed content; no pass/fail decision.
• Final submission - last pass before release / RTM; tested in CERT sandbox with green-signed content on retail devices.

XR categories

XRs are organised into the categories enumerated in the XR document (opens in new window):

XRs that are tested in Cert are marked with an asterisk on the source page; not all XRs are tested every submission. See the test cases page above for per-XR Test Steps + Expected Behavior + Pass / Fail examples.

Issue severity vocabulary

Per the Certification step-by-step guide (opens in new window):

CFR severity is determined by Failure Mode Analysis (FMA) (opens in new window) which combines severity × probability × repeatability.

Common hold reasons

Per the same guide, titles are most often placed on Hold because of:

• "Missing or non-functioning partner accounts that are required for testing."
• "Partner services do not support the CERT.DEBUG and CERT sandboxes."
• "Multiplayer does not work as expected."

(Multiplayer issues are a particularly common cert blocker - see multiplayer-state-machine-coverage for the test patterns that catch them pre-submission.)

Bench layout (compatibility matrix)

Per the Certification test bench configuration (opens in new window) section of the guide:

Reports

Three report types (per same guide):

• Optional complete report - issued at end of Optional Submission; no pass / fail; lists SRIs and CFRs.
• Final pass / fail report - issued at end of Final Submission; the decision report.
• Interim report - mid-pass snapshot; no pass / fail.

Exception requests

Per the guide: "If your title is not fully compliant with any Xbox Requirement (XR), you can request an exception for that XR. This might occur if your title is introducing innovative features or if strong technical limitations would prevent the title from meeting the XR." Work with Microsoft contacts well in advance - "approval of an exception is not guaranteed."