what we need to know if we want to publish on these platforms:
Nintendo Switch
Xbox One
Xbox Series X/S
PlayStation 4
PlayStation 5
Do we need the console hardware to publish on these platforms?
Is it enough just build the game for the specific platforms and upload the build file?
Can we publish on Playstation4 when I only have Playstation5?
Can we publish on Xbox One when I only have Xbox Series X?
How much are the registration costs to publish the game on Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony?
(I know, that I need a different Unity license to publish on consoles)
You need to acquire development units from each manufacturer, it’s not possible to run your own builds on retail consoles.
You can build the game and just submit it, but without testing it yourself it’s very likely to fail certification due to bugs.
Registration is free, the only costs come from purchasing dev hardware.
Sony and Nintendo give you free Unity pro licenses that can be used only for building for their platforms. With Xbox you need to have a Pro subscription.
Microsoft has a “Creators” program where you can actually run development builds on retail consoles, and costs $25 or something. You need to build the game as UWP, however, which isn’t the same as making native Xbox builds using their native SDK (called GDK).
Most information is under NDA, so you won’t find or discuss it under an open forum. Contact the system owners or read through their developer websites at least.
