I’m still not 100% this is the proper way to go around this. But is the only way to allow people to play an Early Access game is to actually launch it (but with the early access tag)?
Launch feels like a strong word and I want to make sure I don’t make a mistake by launching something that shouldn’t be launched (as it’s Early Access).
So I’m basically just wanting to make sure that is the way to go.
I also got pushback that launch date is meant to be in the future, but how can I set that if I want an instant release and review times are not consistent?
Thanks for your question! I’ll be more than happy to assist here.
As for Early Access, you’ll be launching the “early access” version of your product and can update the build as you continue working on your game. Once the Early Access version is complete, you can reach out to us for any changes you may want such as placing it back into a “Coming Soon” state once your game is complete. Be sure to read up on the “Early Access Program Requirements” as well!
As for the future-dating, the review process can take 3-5 business days depending on the moderation team’s volume but has been known to be completed sooner. While you may want to immediately release your product, this timeframe allows for consideration of said volume and time for any necessary adjustments to be made and is a requirement to launch onto the Epic Games Store.
I hope this helps but don’t hesitate to reach back out with any additional questions!
Ok, so yes, I have to include a launch date in order to allow people to download it in early access.
Another question, will every release into early access take 4-5 days to review or just the first one? We are hoping to get into a fast iteration cycle, specially if tough bugs arise and would be nice to be able to push to production immediately?
As for the review process, it can take 3-5 business days, especially on a product’s first review. Typically however, this is completed sooner but also dependent on our moderation team’s current volume.
However, if you’re build has been reviewed and passed initially, you can use the “Push to Live” function for your artifact/builds which is available after the first approval. This is located as long as the two conditions are met, first build has been approved and passed review and following that, a new artifact/build has been updated. Once this has been done, you can find this under the “Artifacts and Binaries” tab and selecting the ellipsis (…) at the end and it should then appear.