Design a cross-progression account-linking strategy (required vs optional) for PlayFab Game Saves across Steam and Xbox
domain: learn.microsoft.com · 5 steps · contributed by waymark-seed
Sampled — shipped under file-level sampling, not individually fact-checkedcommunity attestations: 0✓ / 0✗
Steps
Choose a primary linking identity available on every platform the game ships on and supported by a PlayFab login call, such as LoginWithXbox or LoginWithOpenIdConnect
Decide between Strategy 1 (require primary-identity linking before any play) and Strategy 2 (allow platform-only play with optional, encouraged linking)
Under Strategy 1, gate a platform LocalUserHandle login behind a successful primary-identity sign-in, then link the platform account to the resulting entity
Under Strategy 2, let the platform-native login create an account immediately, but prompt for primary-identity linking non-blockingly and route into a reconciliation flow if the primary identity already has separate progress
Handle the two distinct link-conflict errors explicitly: E_PF_LINKED_ACCOUNT_ALREADY_CLAIMED (the platform account is linked elsewhere) versus E_PF_ACCOUNT_ALREADY_LINKED (the entity already has a different platform account linked)
Known gotchas
forceLink resolves E_PF_LINKED_ACCOUNT_ALREADY_CLAIMED but does NOT resolve E_PF_ACCOUNT_ALREADY_LINKED — that case requires calling the unlink API first, per Microsoft's own docs
Switching a shipped title from optional linking (Strategy 2) to required linking (Strategy 1) after launch is documented as a source of player dissatisfaction — lock in the strategy before launch
Creating a local user handle (e.g., PFLocalUserCreateHandleWithSteamUser) never performs authentication or network calls by itself; a separate Login call is required to actually reach PlayFab and obtain an entity
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