Publishing an application to Microsoft Store: some changes for the year

    Already a year has passed since the publication of the article about the features of publication in the MS Store. Over the past year there have been many events - the GDPR, the release of VS 2019 and other changes.

    In today's short article, I would like to talk a little bit about what changes have occurred in the features of publishing in the Microsoft Store, as well as, on numerous requests, to tell you more about some of the sending sections, which in the previous article were only mentions (in this case, subsections "Prices and availability", "Properties" and "Age categories"). It will be, in some way, the actualization and expansion of the previous article.



    Visual studio 2019


    First of all, I want to dispel doubts about the "entanglement" in the new VS - all the elements necessary for publication have not been moved / changed and are in their places.

    Visual Studio Community 2019 Preview












    For comparison, the spoiler screenshots from the previous article, which used Visual Studio Community 2015.

    As it was in Visual Studio Community 2015












    Partner Center


    Yes, it did not seem to you - now the registration of the developer and all work with the applications is carried out through the "Partner Center", which looks like a slightly redesigned Developer Dashboard.



    Of course, this is subjective, but in my opinion, the new interface has begun to be perceived as somewhat more “friendly” and accessible. Separately pleased that the sections of the developer’s registration and the application panel were reduced to one service, which made it look more “whole” and “unified”, whereas earlier registration was done in one place (with one interface), and work with applications in friend (with a different interface). However, I repeat - these are only subjective impressions. But my inner perfectionist exults.

    check in




    As you can see, the prices (commission) since the previous article remained the same and amount to 626 rubles for individual developers and 3000 rubles for organizations. Honestly, such prices can not but rejoice, given the possibilities that the service itself provides and which developer registration fee is used in other services (speaking of the latter, it should be noted that there can be many reasons for this difference - from audience to something still).



    For those who are curious to know more about what information is required for the initial registration of the MS Store developer, posted a compilation of screenshots under the spoiler

    Individual


    Organization


    Sending




    Pricing and Availability


    This section, no matter how tautly sound, is responsible for the cost of the software product and the markets (countries) in which it will be available (and when it will be available for them). You can get acquainted with the full parameters of this section by looking under the spoiler.

    Full parameters










    Properties


    In this section, the features of the software product are filled. This category, subcategory (in some cases), genres, system requirements, and more.

    From the new, you can mark questions about privacy policy in the subsection “Information about support”.



    Full parameters
    Заполнение данных о программном продукте сделано максимально доступным и приятным, если так можно сказать. Список «вопросов» о продукте зависит от выбранной категории (но меняется не сильно).



    Для наглядности разберем категорию «Игры»

















    Age categories


    Age limits for the software product are set according to the results of filling out the International Age Rating Coalition (IARC) questionnaire, or existing assessments are imported.



    IARC Application Form
    Первоначально предлагается выбрать категорию своего программного продукта







    Так как в предыдущем примере за категорию бралась игра, то и здесь продолжим разбирать ее









    После прохождения анкетирования можно сразу же ознакомиться с возрастными рейтингами своей программы. Пример:







    Отдельно хочу отметить, что вскоре после публикации приложения вам на почту будет выслан «сертификат» от IARC («IARC Rating Certificate»). Внешне он выглядит примерно также, как и в примере выше, но помимо всего прочего содержит такую информацию, как: кому выдан, когда выдан, на какой программный продукт, для какого магазина и уникальный ID сертификата.

    Xbox Live Creators Program


    Another novelty. Now in the submission section there is a subsection "Xbox Live for Designers" (it is optional to fill out). The details of the program can be found here .

    Program page in subsection








    Принять участие в программе, как и отказаться, можно в пару кликов.





    about the author


    Lev Bulanov is a student at Tchaikovsky Industrial College and Udmurt State University, Microsoft Student Partner, C # developer, CF2.5 developer, Unity developer, computer operator (5th grade). The main area of ​​interest is the development of mini-games, utilities and MR-projects.

    Also popular now: