Did you know that you can connect your gamepad to a BlackBerry 10 smartphone connected to a large screen TV to give your mobile app a game console experience? Attendees at recent game developer conferences have experienced this functionality first hand and they were blown away by the quality of the gaming.
“Shadowgun for BlackBerry 10 is a perfect example of how gamepad support can elevate the mobile game experience. Simple gamepad integration, a gamepad and HDMI connection turns your BlackBerry 10 smartphone into a console gaming system and as we’ve witnessed with Shadowgun—people are loving it!” – Marek Rabas of Madfinger Games
Just add gamepad support
Our latest promotion gives you the opportunity to earn two free gamepads and increased visibility in BlackBerry World. All you need to do is enable gamepad-support for your game. Simply submit your gamepad-enabled game in draft mode to BlackBerry World and you will qualify to receive a free Gamepad Package, consisting of a MOGA Pro controller and a SteelSeries controller. As a bonus, when you complete your game and it’s approved, we will add it to our gamepad-enabled feature in BlackBerry World, making it easier to discover your app.
How to add gamepad support
It’s very easy to add gamepad support because the BlackBerry 10.2 Native SDK adds a hardware abstraction layer. No need to worry which gamepad controller the end user prefers, BlackBerry takes care of that.
- Identify your app as gamepad enabled. Add the <permission>use_gamepad</permission> into your bar-descriptor to ensure BlackBerry World finds your application as gamepad enabled. If you’re using Unity, be sure to add “Gamepad” into the submission keywords for BlackBerry World.
- Use the new gamepad functionality using screen library for new gamepad events and for polling analog joystick and button state values.
- Ensure your gamepad support works right out of the gate with default button configuration in place on all menus and within gameplay
- Click here for a full description on how to add gamepad support to your app.
Important Note: You must use the BlackBerry Native SDK 10.2 and target BlackBerry OS 10.1 and above.
What to expect
- There is no registration required
- Ensure your app is identified as gamepad enabled using above instructions
- Submit your app to BlackBerry World in draft or for review. Any app can be submitted in draft as those are not reviewed for sale.
- Once we see your app in Draft mode,
- An email will be sent to the account registered on BlackBerry World from Touchstone. You can order your free gamepad controllers.
- The gamepad controllers will be shipped to you completely free of charge. If you are asked to pay any fees, please contact us and we’ll rectify
- Once your app is approved, we’ll contact you to let you know about the placement of your app in our special gamepad enabled category on BlackBerry World.
If you have any issues, please email BlackBerryDeveloperProgram@blackberry.com
Submit early to qualify
This program runs from September 24, 2013 until December 24, 2013. In order to receive the free Gamepad Package, you need to be one of the first 250 to submit your draft game to BlackBerry World. Check out all of the Terms and Conditions to get the whole scoop.