Every platform holder publishes requirements — TRC, XR, lotcheck, under different names. They are long, specific, and testable. Studios fail them not because the requirements are unreasonable but because nobody read them until the submission.
What gets tested, broadly
System behaviour. Suspend and resume. Controller disconnect mid-gameplay. A second controller joining. The user signing out while playing. Each has a defined correct response and a defined failure.
Storage. Saving with the drive full. Corrupted save data. Save interrupted by power loss. Your game must handle each without losing more than the platform permits.
Naming and terminology. The exact words for the platform's own features. Not "controller" where the platform says something else. This catches more submissions than anything technical.
Performance floors. A minimum frame rate, held — not an average, a floor.
Accessibility and legal. Required text, age ratings, the correct licence notices in the correct place.
What actually fails submissions
- Terminology — consistently the largest single category
- Suspend and resume losing state
- Controller disconnect not pausing
- Save handling under edge conditions nobody tested
- Frame rate dipping below the floor in one specific scene
Budget for the second pass
First submissions fail. Plan for a resubmission in the schedule and it is an inconvenience; plan for a clean pass and it is a missed launch date. The gap between those two is entirely a planning decision.
This is what we do day to day — console porting at Factorial Studio.
