platform-cert-overview-reference
Pure-reference catalog of the four platform-holder certification regimes a multi-platform title submits to before release: Microsoft Xbox Requirements (XR) / Xbox certification on learn.microsoft.com, Sony Technical Requirements Checklist (TRC) on the gated PlayStation DevNet portal, Nintendo Lotcheck on the gated Nintendo Developer Portal, and Steam Direct review on partner.steamgames.com. Documents the submission workflow, severity / pass-fail vocabulary, test-bench configurations, and known SLAs for each platform. Cites public sources inline; cites gated NDA portals by stable ID per PLUGIN_AUTHORING.md Step 4 fallback. Use when planning a cert calendar, mapping internal QA findings to the platform's vocabulary, or sequencing submissions across platforms.
Install with skills.sh (any agent)
npx skills add testland/qa --skill platform-cert-overview-referenceplatform-cert-overview-reference
Overview
A multi-platform title that ships on console plus PC submits to four distinct certification regimes, each with its own requirements document, severity vocabulary, test-bench configuration, and SLA. This skill is the pure reference that maps those four regimes onto a common structure so QA leads can plan a cert calendar without re-learning each portal.
| Platform | Regime | Document name | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Xbox | Xbox Certification | Xbox Requirements (XR) | learn.microsoft.com (opens in new window) (public) |
| PlayStation | Sony TRC | Technical Requirements Checklist | PlayStation DevNet (gated) |
| Nintendo | Lotcheck | Submission Guidelines | Nintendo Developer Portal (gated) |
| Steam | Steam Direct | App Review Process | partner.steamgames.com (opens in new window) (public) |
NDA note. Sony TRC and Nintendo Lotcheck live behind gated portals; their exact clause numbers, SLAs, severity vocabulary, and bench matrices are cited by stable ID ("Sony TRC" / "Nintendo Lotcheck") per PLUGIN_AUTHORING.md Step 4 fallback. Xbox and Steam requirements are public and cited inline.
This skill pairs with game-test-categories-reference which defines the six canonical test categories (functional / compliance / compatibility / performance / localization / accessibility) that map across all four regimes.
When to use
Certification regimes
Per-regime detail lives in one reference file each:
Versioning and deprecation
Time-sensitive version facts, isolated here so the body stays evergreen:
Cross-platform comparison summary
| Dimension | Xbox | Sony | Nintendo | Steam |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Requirements doc | XR (versioned per GDK) | TRC (NDA) | Lotcheck (NDA) | App Review Process |
| Public visibility | Full | Gated | Gated | Full |
| Submission stages | 3 (val + BVT + XR) | Multi-step (NDA) | Multi-step (NDA) | 2 parallel (store + build) |
| Test-pass types | Optional + Final | (NDA) | (NDA) | One pass per submission |
| Severity vocab | CFR / SRI / ION | NDA (comparable) | NDA (comparable) | Pass / Fail (informal) |
| Console SLA (digital) | 5 BD | (NDA - practitioner-weeks) | (NDA - practitioner-weeks) | 3-5 BD (plan for 7) |
| Content-update SLA | 3 BD (1 BD bypass on PC) | (NDA) | (NDA) | Same as initial review |
| Bench matrix | 5 consoles × SKU / display / audio / power | PS4 / PS4 Pro / PS5 / PS5 Pro (NDA) | Switch / OLED / Lite / Switch 2 + handheld/docked (NDA) | Per-OS startup |
| Accessibility surface | XAG v3.2 (recommended; MGATS service available) | TRC clauses + Sony's accessibility guidance (NDA) | Lotcheck clauses (NDA) | Not gated |
| Achievements / Trophies surface | XR-055 / -057 / -058 / -060 / -062 | Trophies (NDA) | None native to Lotcheck | Steam Achievements (no cert gate) |
Sequencing across platforms
A pattern that surfaces issues earliest:
This is a heuristic, not a mandate - partners with strong in-house TRC expertise often reverse the Xbox / Sony ordering.
Anti-patterns
| Anti-pattern | Why it fails | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Treating cert as a Q4 milestone | Late-found CFRs delay launch by weeks | Run XR / TRC checklists from milestone 1 |
| Optional submission "to find out where we are" without prep | Burns paid slot to find bugs internal QA could have | Run internal XR pre-pass before any paid Optional |
| Submitting before partner-service stubs are ready | Held titles cost real calendar days per Microsoft's common hold reasons (opens in new window) | Stand up CERT.DEBUG / CERT sandbox partner accounts before submission |
| Using XR-only language with Sony / Nintendo teams | Cross-platform vocabulary collapses; finger-pointing | Translate findings via the comparison table above |
| Treating Steam Direct review as "real cert" | Misses console requirements that wouldn't surface on Steam | Use the four regimes' actual requirements docs - Steam is not a proxy |
| Cross-network play without privilege checks | Xbox XR-045 / XR-007 fail - CFR | Use XPRIVILEGE_* constants per the XR-045 privilege table (opens in new window) |
| Achievements that "drift" between updates | Xbox XR-060 fail - published achievements can't change unlock rules / rewards | Lock achievement design before launch; only modify name / description / icon post-launch |
| Local-storage writes > 1 GiB / 5 min | Xbox XR-133 fail | Rate-limit save / cache flushes |
Limitations
Sony TRC and Nintendo Lotcheck - reference
View source (opens in new window)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
Structure
The Sony TRC is a numbered checklist organised into roughly comparable buckets to the Xbox XR list:
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.
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
Structure
Nintendo Lotcheck covers analogous buckets:
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
Steam Direct - reference
View source (opens in new window)Steam Direct - reference
Full Steam Direct regime detail for platform-cert-overview-reference.
Source of truth
Workflow
Per the App Review Process (opens in new window):
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:
The Product Build Review checks:
Special categories
Per the same page:
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
View source (opens in new window)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
Stages
Per the Certification step-by-step guide (opens in new window), a submission goes through three stages in order:
Submission types and SLAs
Per the same guide:
| Submission type | Console SLA | PC (MSIXVC) SLA |
|---|---|---|
| Disc | 6 business days | N/A |
| Digital | 5 business days | 3 business days |
| Digital Content-Update | 3 business days | 1 business day (incl. bypass) |
There are two test-pass types:
XR categories
XRs are organised into the categories enumerated in the XR document (opens in new window):
| Category | Representative XRs |
|---|---|
| Base requirements | XR-001 (Title Stability), XR-003 (Title Quality), XR-022 (Naming), XR-074 (Service Loss), XR-130 (Console Families and Generations), XR-131 (Display Mode Support), XR-132 (Service Access Limits), XR-133 (Local Storage Write Limit, 1 GiB / 5 min) |
| Security | XR-009 (Secure Title Development, per Microsoft Store policies 10.2 / 10.2.2 / 10.2.3 / 10.2.4) |
| Online Safety and Privacy | XR-013 (Account Linking), XR-014 (Player Data, child / teen handling), XR-015 (Player Communication, with CommunicateUsingText / CommunicateUsingVoice privilege checks), XR-017 (Title Ratings), XR-018 (UGC) |
| Content packages and updates | XR-034 (Streaming Install Initial Play Marker), XR-037 (DLC Dependencies), XR-123 (DLC unlock without relaunch), XR-129 (Intelligent Delivery via PackageInstallChunksAsync) |
| Purchasing | XR-036 (In-Title Pricing), XR-039 (Common Purchase UI) |
| User profiles | XR-045 (Privileges, e.g. XPRIVILEGE_MULTIPLAYER_SESSIONS ID 254, XPRIVILEGE_COMMUNICATIONS ID 252, XPRIVILEGE_USER_CREATED_CONTENT ID 247), XR-046 (Gamertag display), XR-047 (User-Profile Access), XR-048 (Profile Settings Usage), XR-052 (Save Roaming), XR-112 (User and Controller activation), XR-115 (User / Controller add and remove) |
| Achievements and Awards | XR-055 (Counts and Gamerscore - min 10, max 100 launch / 500 lifetime, single ach ≤ 200 GS), XR-057 (No real-money unlocks), XR-058 (No cross-title sharing), XR-060 (No modifying active achievements), XR-062 (PEGI 12 / ESRB EVERYONE 10+ name and description content) |
| Multiplayer sessions | XR-064 (Joinable via shell), XR-067 (MPSD session state), XR-070 (Friends Lists), XR-124 (Game Invitations) |
| Betas and Game Previews | XR-117 (Beta notification splash) |
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):
| Code | Name | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| CFR | Condition for Resubmission | Title fails cert; must be fixed before resubmit |
| SRI | Standard Reporting Issue | Tied to an XR but not fail-severe; fix recommended |
| ION | Issue of Note | Not tied to an XR; informational |
| Non-Tested | (no code) | XR could not be tested in this pass |
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:
(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:
| Console | SKU | Resolution | Storage | Audio | Power |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Xbox One / Xbox Series X | 720p | Internal HDD | Stereo | Instant-On |
| 2 | Xbox One X / Xbox Series S | 4k (alt HDR after 4 h) | Internal HDD | 5.1 Bitstream | Instant-On |
| 3 | Xbox One S / Xbox Series X | 1080p | Internal HDD | Stereo | Energy Saving |
| 4 | Xbox Series S | 1080p | USB HDD | Headset (Windows Sonic) | Instant-On |
| 5 | Xbox Series X | 720p | USB HDD | Stereo | Energy Saving |
Reports
Three report types (per same guide):
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."
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