Proper release set up in iTunes connect

RossmanBrothersGames

Hey everyone,
Looking if those of you who have published games before can help me. It seems the typical day games release are Thursdays, which means they show up on the App Store Wednesday night in America.
Every Wednesday Touch Arcade and a bunch of other sites have a post saying "coming tonight" and the App Store updates their features on Thursdays.
Having never released an App before I want to make sure my iTunes connect settings are correct to release this Thursday the 8th.

Here is how things look:

And this:

I'm guessing the "Release This Version" would release the App right away, and if I don't click it my App will release on Thursday (Wendesday night) alongside all others. Or do I need to push that button? Any other setting I might be missing? I have my banking and everything set up.

Thunder_Child

It is my experience after 13 app submissions...there is no particular day Apple releases new games. This is entirely dependant on weyher have entered a specific release date or allow it to be released immediately upon app review and if it passed or not.

I will also add Apple has done a freat job making the itunes connect system in such a way that...if there is any metadata issues they will not even allow yoi to submit for review.

So to summarize...if your release date is set for..today and you submit today...it still may be 3-5-7 days before they review it and if it passes...because your release date has passed they will release that version you submitted...immedaitely. Even after passing it can take a full 24 hours to be available in the app store but my experience is just a few hours really.

RossmanBrothersGames

Yes Apple doesn't release games on a specific day, devs choose to. My app was already reviewed and approved by Apple a week ago. I took time to send out press emails with promo codes. Now I want my app to release Thursday. If you look at mobile gaming sites, the always have a list of games set to come out Wednesday night or Thursday the rest of the world. And without fail those games come out then, so there should be some way to set you release date to have it come out then.

Thunder_Child

yes you can certainly submit..get passed and have your date to release set to a month from now if you wanted to market...or what ever.

RossmanBrothersGames

cool. I was wondering if anyone who has done that could tell me if my current settings are correct to have it release at the time I am wanting it to. I'm guessing I do not need to hit the "release this version" button right? Just wait and it will release when I am wanting it to?

MentalDonkeyGames

My experience, unless Apple has changed something...

Since the status is "pending developer release" and the release date is the 8th, you can press the button now and it will be published on 8th. Your game won't be published at all if you don't press the "release this version" button. You have to press that at some point if you want your app released.

RossmanBrothersGames

@NipaDidIt said:
My experience, unless Apple has changed something...

Since the status is "pending developer release" and the release date is the 8th, you can press the button now and it will be published on 8th. Your game won't be published at all if you don't press the "release this version" button. You have to press that at some point if you want your app released.

Thank you!

RossmanBrothersGames

For future reference @NipaDidIt is correct. I found some other blog posts where devs posted their mistakes. If you don't click release this version the game won't come out. Some devs missed their release time because they assumed it would come out at the release date they set and in doing so missed the App Store updates posts on multiple sites and probably missed chances to be featured and such.

I clicked the release this version, now my status says "Ready for Sale" but it will not show up on the App Store till the 8th.

supafly129

@RossmanBrothersGames said:
For future reference NipaDidIt is correct. I found some other blog posts where devs posted their mistakes. If you don't click release this version the game won't come out. Some devs missed their release time because they assumed it would come out at the release date they set and in doing so missed the App Store updates posts on multiple sites and probably missed chances to be featured and such.

I clicked the release this version, now my status says "Ready for Sale" but it will not show up on the App Store till the 8th.

Thanks for the tip @RossmanBrothersGames ! looking forwarding to downloading Jump Jack on Thursday! Do you know if Apple picks the "Best New Games" ahead of time? Or do you suspect they actually do all their selections every Thursday without having their minds made up already?

I was thinking of releasing my game on a Wednesday to rack up some ratings a day ahead, but I wonder if the editors at Apple typically just browse through all the Thursday-only releases to choose from.

RossmanBrothersGames

Hmm... good question. I know it is pretty common for most devs to release on Thursday without worrying about it. I think Apple might note games for features during the App Review Process, not sure how much is influenced by outside media and reviews and such, that could be a lot more work than they would want to put in.

My game was in review for about 2 days, which makes me think they may have actually played through the whole thing. I think they might take a close look at games while reviewing them and know which ones they will feature.

stanny

Hi, is this changed? I don't really see the calendar button next to Availability like in the screenshot above. The date picker does not seem to be there.

RossmanBrothersGames

Shouldn't have changed this was a week ago, has your app been approved by apple?