How do they release songs/video games? Do they just push a button and it’s there?
In: Other
They have a set date that allows you to click the download button and get it. Super Mario Color Splash is known for having the date set too early and releasing it before the announced date
I’m a small music producer and not signed to any label but this is how I release music.
Generally I upload a .wav file of my song and album art to a distributor’s website (distrokid, repost network, amuse.io) and fill out a small questionnaire about the music (genre/subgenre, lyrics, explicit/non-explicit, etc.)
Then I pick a release date, usually 2 weeks out, and send it in for review, stating I have the legal rights to whatever I’m releasing. My music and art is looked over by quality control to make sure it meets audio quality standards and such.
Then it’s shipped off to audio streaming platforms like Apple Music and Spotify who upload it onto my artist page on release day(if all goes well).
That’s generally my process for releasing music but other music producers might have other ways!
Some games do a time release patch. I know WoW is notorious for this. They allow you to download the expansion prior to release and they they send a very small update out that unlocks the content. And in that case you’d be right, a push of a button. Ofc, that’s uploaded to a server, (remotely by them?) And that’s where we pull the data from.
Essentially they ship out copies to places before the release date with specific instructions not to allow early release unless given permission. Then when the designated time comes, they are allowed to start selling those copies
For games, it depends on the platform.
On Steam yeah I think it is basically just push a button to upload the latest version. There are settings for when you want it to be available, how much it costs, etc.
On consoles there’s a whole certification/submission process. You send a build of the game to Microsoft/Sony/Nintendo and they do various tests on it to make sure it’s not completely broken and complies with their rules. They give a report back with information about what needs to be fixed or changed. But if it all passes then they will release it on the store on your release day.
If the game has a physical copy this needs to be done a few months in advance because the discs need to be printed and shipped to stores before the release date.
Developers usually plan to submit the game multiple times in case they fail. Sometimes even if the first one passes they might still use the time they have to fix more bugs and submit it again.
It’s pretty bad if the game fails the certification and you haven’t planned for any more attempts. It takes a significant amount of time and money. So not only could your game be delayed, it means paying more.
Hey GameDev here
Regarding the release of games, the process is different for digital or physical versions. For physical versions, basically you have to consider at least a month for the CD to be done and delivered in store. For Sony and MS is quite fast because the process is global and the CDs are basically BluRay. For Nintendo it’s a bit trickier, I released games on Nintendo Switch, DS and so on and they’re the only ones who are making this kind of SD card format. So sometimes you have to contact them even earlier if you are planning to release your game at the end of the year because there will be a bottleneck with all the other game releases in a period of 4 to 6 weeks.
But no matter if you’re game is digital-only or physical and digital, you have to be officially reviewed by Sony, MS, Nintendo, Apple or Android (less for Android). Nintendo is especially hard because they are very strict rules about typo in texts, legal info on stores etc. If you pay them a good extra, they have special testers in what they call “The Mario Club” where top quality assurance testers, give you a full review of your game and how you could enhance the quality of everything. All hardware manufacturers do not have the same guidelines regarding how they consider your game “approved” so specific people in studios deal with them. Every time your game is rejected you have to fix all the issues they fund, make a new build of the game and resubmit your game again until they say it’s ok.
Apple is also manually checking all the apps, especially in-app purchase and legal terms. If a in-game offer in your shop is not very clear, they will reject your build in seconds. For Steam it’s faster because the majority of games are reviewed by algorithms.
Latest Answers