This article details the required versions of the various tools and SDKs that GameMaker Studio 2 uses.

We do not recommend using third-party tools ahead of what is listed below - Studio won't know how to support them properly and you may give yourself build errors or even IDE instability.

Be aware also that for everything below we only offer support for physical machines running a single OS natively - we do not support any variant of VMs (including Parallels on a Mac), Bootcamp, "Hackintosh" Macs, or emulators, etc.

The following sections refer to IDE v2.2.3.436 using Runtimes v2.2.3.344. If you're not on this version, we'd strongly recommend you update and then follow this guide. Be aware we will only offer Helpdesk support if your issue is in this version - for all older releases, you will be asked to update and confirm your issue still exists before we will investigate.

For the Windows IDE

• See general system specifications in the popup on the GMS2 info page
• Visual Studio 2015 or 2017 is required when building Windows YYC or anything to do with UWP or consoles - see the target's own section below for specifics
• Note VS2015/VS2017 requires Win 7 with SP1 or above - it won't install without at least SP1
• A separate physical Mac is still required for targeting Mac and iOS - see the target's own section below for specifics. We would highly recommend this Mac is connected to the PC using Ethernet, rather than WiFi, as this can result in issues when building large projects for YYC.

For the Mac IDE

• See general system specifications in the popup on the GMS2 info page
• Please don't use macOS or Xcode beta builds as soon as they are released, as beta builds are often subject to large changes and an issue in one version may not be present in the next update - we will only look at Apple's "GM Candidates" and release builds
• Xcode is required to be installed separately before you can test/create Mac and iOS packages - see the target's own section below for specifics
• Using GMS2 2.2.1 and above, Mono v5.10.1.57 or newer (we recommend 5.20.1.19) is required for building any projects - if for any reason this fails to be installed automatically by GMS2 you can download the installer from https://download.mono-project.com/archive/5.20.1/macos-10-universal/MonoFramework-MDK-5.20.1.19.macos10.xamarin.universal.pkg
• An Apple Developer account is required before you can test/create Mac and iOS packages, as you will need Xcode to sign the application as per Apple's requirements
• A separate physical Windows PC is still required for targeting Windows, UWP or any of the consoles - see the target's own section below for specifics. We would always recommend this PC is connected to the Mac using Ethernet, rather than WiFi. 

For Building/Running Games

General

• For 2.2.2 and above, Spine 3.7 is required for exporting your sprites - older Spine formats may throw errors when importing/compiling or may not behave as expected in-game
• For 2.2.1 and older, Spine 3.4.02 is required (not newer versions)
• Steamworks SDK 1.42 if you're doing Steam builds (please use ONLY this version)

Windows (setup guide here)

• Windows 7 with SP1, 8, 8.1, or 10
• For building VM you don't need anything extra, but for building YYC you will need Visual Studio 2017 or 2015 (Community Editions are fine)
• For using GMS2 itself: XP and Vista are not supported at all, nor is a fresh Windows 7 install without SP1
• For playing games: XP is not supported at all. Vista and Windows 7 players will need to ensure they have DirectX 11 installed, otherwise the game will not run. Certain functionality in the game, like security when doing HTTP requests and using any third-party extensions may prevent the use of Vista/Win 7 (or might require you to install the final Service Pack), and we are unable to do anything about this.

Mac (setup guide here)

• Please don't use macOS or Xcode beta builds as soon as they are released, as beta builds are often subject to large changes and an issue in one version may not be present in the next update - we will only look at Apple's "GM Candidates" and release builds
• In general, we would always recommend using the latest non-Beta Xcode release, as this is the version Apple want you to be using. If this is not supported on your Mac, then we will try to support you as long as we can, but Apple will eventually stop your machine from being able to build App Store apps and there is nothing we can do about this.
• All code-signed macOS apps built after July 31st 2019 are now required to be uploaded to Apple and notarised once they have been built, before that app will work on a different machine - even ones published outside the App Store, such as on Steam. Note that if you do not codesign your package, Gatekeeper will say it's damaged and tell you to delete it anyway, so not applying codesigning is not a method of bypassing the new notarisation requirement.
• Xcode 10 (which requires macOS High Sierra 10.13.4+) is required for all macOS development, following Apple's "notarization" system announcement. This applies to all software on Catalina (AppStore/non-AppStore doesn't matter) and can also apply the same on Mojave if an individual enables the system on their Mac. Older versions of Xcode will not produce software suitable for use on Catalina (and some of your players might report issues on Mojave also).
• Xcode 10 support requires GMS2 2.2.0+. If you're trying to use an older version of GMS2, you will need to update.
• Please note, if you're using the Windows IDE, we would highly recommend the target Mac is connected to the PC using Ethernet, rather than WiFi, as this can result in issues when building large projects for YYC.
• For playing GM games, OS X 10.9 or later is required for AppStore games and OS X 10.7 or later is required for non-AppStore games.
• All games are 64bit-only as of 2.1.5.

Ubuntu (setup guide here)

• As of GMS2 2.2.1, Ubuntu 18.04 LTS 64bit is the only distro we support.
• Up to and including GMS2 2.2.0, Ubuntu 16.04 LTS 64bit is the only distro GMS2 supported.
• Other distros can generally run the game packages GMS2 generates with no issues, and may also be used when building projects inside GMS2, but we do not offer support for this.
• 2.2.3 and above require the "nproc" package to be installed on the Ubuntu machine when building packages. This is installed by default in Ubuntu, but might not be there if you have customised your install or installed by default in other distros, so be aware you might need to install this other package.
• All games are 64bit-only as of 2.1.3.

Android / Amazon (setup guide here)

• Install Android Studio 3.5 and configure it as per the setup guide linked-to just above this line.
• The old "SDK Manager" method of installing your Android SDK on Windows is no longer supported in GMS2 2.2.4+, as Google won't allow AndroidX to be downloaded via SDK manager. You will need to change to Android Studio.
• We recommend using Android API 28 (or NDK 18b) for all projects. API 29 is not supported in 2.2.3 or older, you will need to use 2.2.4+.
• For your JDK location, use the location of the OpenJDK 8 install which is included by default in your Android Studio installation. Gradle does not support any version of JDK 9 or newer, so stick with this Android Studio version.
• Games can be built using 64bit and/or 32bit as you require.
• Minimum SDK version is 16 for API 28+ and anything built for Android YYC. (You can use 14 when using Build Tools 26 or 27, and using 25 or older you can leave this at 9 - but be aware Google Play will not accept this apk as it requires you to use API 26 or above.)
• Please note, some third-party extensions may require you to raise the minimum SDK version to their requirements, as will enabling "Run Lint code analysis".

Recommended Preferences Settings:

(The value shown here for Android SDK Location is customisable in Android Studio's "SDK Manager" section - we recommend using a short path, rather than several folders deep inside Program Files, which is what Android Studio will use by default.)

Recommended Game Options settings:

Please note that if you have enabled "Run Lint code analysis" lower down on that Game Options page, you may find that in order to make projects build okay you will need to adjust the above values - always refer to your own Lint report for the specifics (the location of this report file is written in your compiler log).

Also, be aware by default Gradle will assume/require an internet connection and will perform an update check and download any required components you do not have installed at the start of each GMS2 project build. We would recommend you leave this enabled, but if required you can disable this within Android Studio (of course, if you start seeing projects fail to build, before you contact us you should perform an update of Gradle and download any missing components manually and confirm if this fixed your issue):  https://developer.android.com/studio/intro/studio-config#offline

iOS / iPadOS (setup guide here)

• Please don't use iOS or Xcode beta builds as soon as they are released, as beta builds are often subject to large changes and an issue in one version may not be present in the next update - we will only look at Apple's "GM Candidates" and release builds
• In general, we would always recommend using the latest non-Beta Xcode release, as this is the version Apple want you to be using. If this is not supported on your Mac, then we will try to support you as long as we can, but Apple will eventually stop your machine from being able to build App Store apps and there is nothing we can do about this.
• Our docs and the GMS2 IDE do not refer to the recently-announced iPadOS as there currently is no fundamental change compared to regular iOS and GMS2 iOS packages work perfectly fine on iPadOS. We will obvious monitor this going forward and react if Apple make a breaking change, but for now if you have "iOS" you have "iPadOS" also.
• Xcode 10 (which requires macOS High Sierra 10.13.4+) is required for connecting to/building for iOS 12.0 devices - if your phone is 12.2 or higher, you will need Mojave and a newer Xcode in order to connect to that device.
• Xcode 10 support requires GMS2 2.2.0+.
• Xcode 9.2/9.3 will build packages in GMS2 2.1.5 and can be used for dev testing, but cannot support iOS 12 or higher and cannot submit successfully to the AppStore, so we no longer offer support. Xcode 9.2 or older will 100% fail to compile your project in GMS2 - please update to 10.0+.
• iOS 10.0 or above is required for playing games (Xcode doesn't build for older iOS versions now)
  
• Please note, if you're using the Windows IDE, we would highly recommend the target Mac is connected to the PC using Ethernet, rather than WiFi, as this can result in issues when building large projects for YYC.

tvOS (setup guide here)

Due to how our licensing server works, tvOS will actually show up in Target Manager for all IDEs 2.1.5 and above, but it is only 2.2.3+ which will work.

• Please don't use tvOS or Xcode beta builds as soon as they are released, as beta builds are often subject to large changes and an issue in one version may not be present in the next update - we will only look at Apple's "GM Candidates" and release builds
• In general, we would always recommend using the latest non-Beta Xcode release, as this is the version Apple want you to be using. If this is not supported on your Mac, then we will try to support you as long as we can, but Apple will eventually stop your machine from being able to build App Store apps and there is nothing we can do about this.
• Xcode 10 (which requires macOS High Sierra 10.13.4+) is required for connecting to/building for tvOS 12.0 devices - if your TV is 12.2 or higher, you will need Mojave and a newer Xcode in order to connect to that device
• tvOS 13.0 is announced as requiring Catalina (not even Mojave), so we would currently advise against installing this beta on your Apple TV device.
• tvOS 12.0 or above is required for playing games

UWP (setup guide for PC, for mobile, and for Xbox One)

• Visual Studio 2015 or Visual Studio 2017 can be used
• Windows 10 SDK 10.0.14393.0 is the SDK we suggest using, but newer versions may be required by some functionality/extensions in your project
• Whilst our tools include support for Windows 10 Mobile packages, Microsoft themselves don't support these phones now, so we cannot guarantee how long they will still allow store apps, etc.

Consoles

Please note: you will only have access to the following links if your YoYo Account is licensed as a registered console developer.

• PS4
• Switch
• Xbox One