Merge pull request #10828 from clayjohn/console-middleware

Add middleware section to consoles page and clean up some outdated text

tutorials/platform/consoles.rst

@@ -13,13 +13,9 @@ yourself or someone hired to do it, or provided by a third-party company.
 Currently, the only console Godot officially supports is Steam Deck (through the
 official Linux export templates).
 
-The reason other consoles are not officially supported are:
-
-- To develop for consoles, one must be licensed as a company.
-  As an open source project, Godot has no legal structure to provide console ports.
-- Console SDKs are secret and covered by non-disclosure agreements.
-  Even if we could get access to them, we could not publish the platform-specific
-  code under an open source license.
+The reasons other consoles are not officially supported are the risks of legal
+liability, disproportionate cost, and open source licensing issues. The reasons
+are explained in more detail in this article `About Official Console Ports <https://godotengine.org/article/about-official-console-ports/>`__
 
 As explained, however, it is possible to port your games to consoles thanks to
 services provided by third-party companies.
@@ -46,7 +42,7 @@ to a console platform is as follows:
   be more accepting of smaller developers, but this is not guaranteed.
 - Get access to developer tools and order a console specially made for
   developers (*devkit*). The cost of those devkits is confidential.
-- Port the engine to the console platform or pay a company to do it.
+- Port your game to the console platform or pay a company to do it.
 - To be published, your game needs to be rated in the regions you'd like to sell
   it in. For example, game ratings are handled by `ESRB <https://www.esrb.org/>`__
   in North America, and `PEGI <https://pegi.info/>`__ in Europe. Indie developers
@@ -62,10 +58,10 @@ Third-party support
 -------------------
 
 Console ports of Godot are offered by third-party companies (which have
-ported Godot on their own). These companies also offer publishing of
+ported Godot on their own). Some of these companies also offer publishing of
 your games to various consoles.
 
-Following is the list of providers:
+The following is a list of some of the providers:
 
 - `Lone Wolf Technology <https://www.lonewolftechnology.com/>`_ offers
   Switch and Playstation 4 porting and publishing of Godot games.
@@ -81,10 +77,23 @@ Following is the list of providers:
   Switch porting and publishing of Godot games.
 - `Seaven Studio <https://www.seaven-studio.com/>`_ offers
   Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series, PlayStation 4 & PlayStation 5 porting of Godot games.
-- `Sickhead Games <https://www.sickhead.com>`_ offers console porting to Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S for Godot games.
-- `W4 Games <https://www.w4games.com/>`_ offers console ports for Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X/S, and Playstation 5 for you to port your game yourself.
+- `Sickhead Games <https://www.sickhead.com>`_ offers 
+  console porting to Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S for Godot games.
 
 If your company offers porting, or porting *and* publishing services for Godot games,
 feel free to
 `contact the Godot Foundation <https://godot.foundation/#contact>`_
 to add your company to the list above.
+
+Middleware
+----------
+
+Middleware ports are available through the console vendor's website. They
+provide you with a version of Godot that can natively run on the console.
+Typically, you do the actual work of adapting your game to the various consoles
+yourself. In other words, the middleware provided has ported *Godot* to the
+console, you just need to port your game, which is significantly less work in
+most cases.
+
+- `W4 Games <https://www.w4games.com/>`_ offers official 
+  middleware ports for Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X/S, and Playstation 5.