Does Godot have any plans to support exporting to consoles (PS4, Xbox, etc)?

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:bust_in_silhouette: Asked By servitor
:warning: Old Version Published before Godot 3 was released.

Does Godot have any plans to support exporting to console platforms such as the PS4, Xbox One, WiiU, etc?

These require licensing and sdks from the corresponding companies, so this might not be a possibility for us at the moment, but the team that makes Godot has, or at-least is listed on sites about Godot as having exports for proprietary consoles like ps3, psVita and 3ds for there in-house games. If they could distribute the export templates to proven license holders that would be cool.

SupToasty | 2016-05-14 18:24

No amount of funding would help since the code on consoles has to be cryptographically signed. So if I develop a game using Godot and want to release on a console I would have to go into an agreement with Sony or MS or Nintendo. And those license agreements are not given away to just anyone. There are some big hurdles to get over before they will even consider it and then you can start talking about money.
They can also revoke the license at any time for any reason.

No license agreement between you, the developer of a Godot game, and the console company means you have no way to sign your game and it will not run on a console unless it is signed.

jitterbeetle | 2018-05-16 04:38

You can port it into Xbox through Universal Windows platform. https://youtu.be/FCRkDD0vuiU

Dudedude123 | 2021-10-31 15:02

:bust_in_silhouette: Reply From: punto

We are licensed for ps4, xbox one, wii u and vita, and development of the port is at different stages for each platform (from no code at all to almost ready to ship a game), it all depends on what kind of funding and support we can get (mostly from publishers and the platforms themselves) to develop that code. Since those platforms are closed, the classic “open source” approach doesn’t work here, most people don’t have access to them, and there’s no incentive to write code that nobody can use. When you use an engine on a console somebody is paying for a license (which is usually more expensive than the PC/mobile license, since the code is harder to write), we need to figure out how to make that code happen for us.

So, does that man that the way would be to offer paid console exports as plugins or something ?

rafaelvasco | 2016-05-31 03:37

How about getting found on that from consoles developers? They do cooperate with many different engines developers.
My company is licenced for PS3, PS4, PSP, Vita, Xbox One, 3DS, new 3DS, Wii, Wii U and Switch, with devkits and so on. I’d love to see Godot on those!
Could you at least share the already done templates after proving licensing for specific consoles?

Krzycho | 2016-10-23 21:15

sure! in fact I’ve been contacting companies to see if they’d like to cooperate in a project like this. where do you work?

punto | 2016-10-23 21:19

I’m not sure if there is a better place to register my interest in helping out with console development but I would be interested in being in the loop on this. I have been in the game industry for quite some time and I am beginning to organise my own company for which I intend to obtain licenses for console development.
I am a fan of open source software and would prefer to be helping push something like Godot forward than run with Unity or Unreal. Console dev could be a blocking issue for me though.

staticgerbil | 2016-11-01 02:50

There’s not really a “loop” at the moment, but you can write to me at ariel@godotengine.org and we can discuss this, I’m happy to collaborate with anyone who can help…

punto | 2016-11-01 05:25

Is there any value in getting crowdfunding for this?

mydoghasworms | 2016-11-07 12:29

:bust_in_silhouette: Reply From: Calinou

See Console support in Godot in the documentation.