Gaming consoles have evolved far beyond their origins. Today, PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo Switch are the media hubs of the modern living room and for content providers, making them a valuable platform to build for.
FX Digital is a specialist agency with a proven track record building high-quality console apps for some of the world’s leading media brands. From initial consultation through to design, development and certification, we handle the full lifecycle.
Whether you’re bringing an existing streaming service to console for the first time, or rebuilding a legacy app that’s fallen behind user expectations, our team has the experience to deliver.
Talk to the FX Digital console app development team.
Why console app development matters
The gaming console market is larger, and more valuable, than many content brands realise. The global audience for gaming consoles is projected at 3.6 billion, with sales set to reach $188.8 billion in 2026¹. Furthermore, research from YouGov shows, 1 in 3 consumers worldwide (31%) engage in playing video games on a weekly basis².
But these figures only tell part of the story. Console audiences are highly engaged, accustomed to premium experiences, and already comfortable using their devices to watch, stream and subscribe. For media brands and content providers, that means a ready-made audience with high expectations and real spending power.
Console apps are often watched on large screens, often with other people, in a lean-back environment that rewards polished, intuitive experiences. Getting it right on console is a meaningful opportunity to deepen your relationship with your audience.
¹ Mintel Gaming Trends report 2026 https://store.mintel.com/report/us-gaming-trends-market-report
² Global Gaming & Esports whitepaper 2023: Reaching Gamers – everywhere https://yougov.com/reports/46425-global-gaming-report-2023-reaching-gamers-everywhere
Key platforms
Sony Playstation 4 & 5
Xbox Series X/S & One
What We Deliver
Development
Our console app developers have hands-on experience with the tools and environments that matter, including the Xbox Developer Kit (XDK) and PlayStation Dev Kits. We build apps that are performant, stable and built to pass certification first time.
QA & Test Automation
Quality assurance is a specialism at FX Digital. Our QA team has built strong working relationships with both Microsoft and Sony, giving us an inside track on certification requirements and helping us reduce the time between submission and approval.
UX & UI Design
Console app design is a discipline in its own right. Navigation is driven by a controller, not a remote. Layouts need to work on large televisions, at a distance, across a range of resolutions. Our specialist console UI designers understand these constraints intimately, and craft interfaces that feel native to the platform.
Performance Optimisation
Console hardware varies significantly across generations and manufacturers. We optimise every app we build for the specific capabilities and constraints of each target platform, ensuring fast load times, smooth playback and consistent performance, even on older hardware.
Challenges & Considerations
Building for consoles is not the same as building for TV, mobile or web. Each platform presents its own set of technical and operational challenges.
Controller & Remote Navigation
Every interaction has to be designed around a controller. Navigation logic and user journeys all need to be rethought from the ground up and tested exhaustively across different controller configurations.
Certification Requirements
Both Sony and Microsoft require apps to pass a formal certification process before they can be published to their stores. Requirements are detailed, platform-specific, and updated regularly. Our team’s familiarity with these processes means fewer surprises at the submission stage.
Cross-Generation Hardware
Supporting multiple console generations simultaneously introduces meaningful differences in processing power, memory and graphics capability. Ensuring a consistent, high-quality experience across all supported devices requires careful optimisation from the outset.
Platform-Specific Development Environments
PlayStation and Xbox each have their own SDKs, certification pipelines and technical requirements.
Our Work
Our specialist team of console app developers have worked with Eurosport on their Xbox app. This app was made available to 52 markets in 14 languages, and delivers premium video content on Xbox. Our Xbox app is feature-rich, including user authentication, dynamic content rails, a schedule of content and search.
Get Started
Gaming consoles are in more than 440 millions homes around the world and the audiences using them are ready for your content. If you’re looking for a development partner who knows the platforms, has the relationships with Sony and Microsoft, and can take your app from concept to certification, we’d love to hear from you.
