It was recently announced that anyone will be able to turn their console into a developer kit which would allow any average Joe to make and test games they make on their home Xbox One, rather than a dedicated and expensive developer console. It has a few caveats right now though, so think carefully before firing into this exciting venture!
After promising it nearly 3 years ago, the Developer mode is now available if you are a part of the Xbox One Preview Program, with full consumer release planned sometime after summer. It’s noted that you will not be able to use the developer mode if you have any other preview function activated and that most people should wait for the consumer release rather than fight with the current lengthy activation procedure.
There is currently 448MB available for your Universal Windows Platform app (UWP) to run on the Xbox One (along with other limitations) and this will be increased to 1GB on full release. This relatively low ram is due to the wide range of products UWP’s are designed to be running on, from low cost phones to high end PC’s. This means you’re hardly going to be making the next Witcher but it will be enough for making your own indie game.
So if you want to make a game you will need:
- The latest version of Windows 10
- The newest build of Visual Studio 2015 (to make your game)
- Downloaded the dev mode app from the windows store
- Have the appropriate cable to connect your Xbox and your PC
- Have at least 30GB of free space on your Xbox hard drive
After following the specific installation instructions you will need to get a Developer Center Account which will cost $19 dollars a month or $99 dollars a year if you want to put your games online. You will also need to register with ID@XBOX to eventually get your game onto the Xbox store.
Due to the universal nature of Microsoft’s new platform it means the game you make for Xbox One could easily feature on Windows Mobile or even on your desktop Windows 10! There’s a whole lot of information here but once you get it taken care of Microsoft have commented on making this process easier in the future.
It should be noted if you change your console onto Developer mode you may have to Factory Reset the console to get it back into retail mode (the console will not be able to play games you have bought on disc or on the store while in developer mode). It is not said if this will still be an issue once the full release comes out after summer.
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