Game Launch Checklist – What Every Indie Developer Forgets Before Release Day:

The build is done. The last bug is fixed. The trailer is cut. And the game is still not ready to launch. A solid game launch checklist closes that gap, and most indie developers do not have one

Mart Gervacio, founder of Tadhana, has spent twenty years working on the other side of that gap. He started in QA at Nintendo, moved to EA as a release manager, and spent a decade at PlayStation, where he eventually ran the team that takes in submissions from publishers and gets their games into the PlayStation ecosystem. He joined Dan Long, Podcast Host for IndieGameBusiness®, to walk through the game launch checklist he wishes every developer had before they pushed a single button.

From Testing Dora the Explorer to Running PlayStation Submissions:

Mart’s career started with two job applications sent at the same time, one to Xbox and one to Nintendo, both for QA. Xbox called first, and the work was late nights of debugging. A few weeks later Nintendo called with an opening in its Logic department, the certification group that tests every game before it ships.

He spent about eight years there. The first game he ever tested was Dora the Explorer for Game Boy Advance, a title you could beat in an hour or two. Testing at that level means doing the things nobody expects players to do, like running into the same wall forty five times to make sure the character cannot skip through it. It is not the same as playing games all day, which is what most people assume.

After Nintendo he moved to the Bay Area to work as a release manager at EA, then spent the next ten years at PlayStation. That path through three platform holders gave him a view of launch problems from the inside, including the ones that repeat year after year.

Game Launch Checklist Item One: Localization and Build Approval

When Dan asked what the first thing is that a finished developer is probably forgetting, Mart pointed to two items that show up again and again.

• Localization. Developers reach the final step and discover that Spanish, French, and other languages are expected. English alone does not carry a game across every market. Localization should be planned from the beginning, not added at the end.
• Build approval. Steam has no build approval. A developer fills in a form and releases. Console platforms and Epic need time to certify a build against their own guidelines. Developers who come from Steam often assume every other platform will move at the same speed.

Dan shared that his own team had to move a date back for PlayStation because the build was not submitted early enough. Even people who know the process get caught by it

What Release Management Actually Is:

Release management is the final stretch of the process, which is exactly why so many developers overlook it until it is too late. Every game launch checklist should treat release management as work that starts early, not at the end. A release manager is responsible for getting the game onto the storefronts. That covers the technical work of building the game and all the store setup that follows.

Anyone who has set up a Steam page knows how much is involved. There are multiple capsule images, multiple assets, multiple languages, and pricing and metadata to sort out. Now multiply that by every platform you plan to launch on. Mart noted that Steam is the easiest storefront to get through. Console and Epic have far more places where something can fail or get forgotten.

PlayStation documentation is extensive, and Mart was clear that developers should read it. His broader advice is to start early. Learn each portal before the game is finished, find where the submit button lives, and make sure you do not press it by accident before you are ready. Developers who run wishlist campaigns or early access have a head start because they have already been through part of the process.

The Most Expensive Launch Mistakes:

Mart kept his examples general, but he made it clear that launch mistakes happen at every level, from indie studios to the largest publishers. The causes are usually manual processes. Games get released for free by accident. Games go live before the release date. Community members spot the mistake and tell everyone to download the game before it is fixed.

The cost can be severe. On a sixty dollar game, depending on how many people download it at once, the loss can land anywhere between one million and six million dollars. Mart admitted that he has made a version of this mistake himself. He misread a time zone and released a game one hour before the marketing beats in Australia. The team took the game down and released it again an hour later, and the marketing push that was supposed to land with the release was missed in that window.

That story is a good reminder that a release is a coordinated event. Marketing, community posts, creator content, and store pages all need to line up with the exact minute the game goes live.

Platform Certification Timelines for Your Game Launch Checklist:

One of the most practical parts of the conversation was a clear breakdown of how long approval takes on each platform. Mart’s rule is to build in at least one failure, because even the most experienced teams fail certification the first time.

• Nintendo: plan for two to three months if you include one failure
• PlayStation: about a month and some change, again with one failure built in
• Xbox: similar to PlayStation
• Steam: roughly five to seven business days, and Steam does not review the build itself

The biggest warning sign that a game is finished but not ready to launch is simple. If a developer going to console has forgotten that certification exists, that is the red flag.

Mart also shared common reasons platforms reject a build. The most frequent one he has seen is a button prompt from the wrong platform showing up in the game, such as an Xbox prompt in a PlayStation build or a PC prompt in a Nintendo build. Platforms also test how a game behaves when the system runs out of memory and what happens if power is lost while the game is saving. Those scenarios are worth testing long before submission.

What a Six Month Game Launch Checklist Looks Like:

Dan asked what a developer should have in place when they are six months from launch.

Mart gave a specific game launch checklist for this stage:

• Age ratings submitted. The IARC system makes this much easier, since developers can fill out a form and receive ratings quickly, including extra ratings for regions like Taiwan, Saudi Arabia, and Japan through CERO
• The game at beta, with a release candidate ready for certification two to three months before launch
• Pricing decided
• Store artwork up and ready
• Most of the localization work completed

Mart also addressed what happens after code freeze. Developers can still patch a game, but patches also go through certification. Platforms have made patch approval easier over the years, and a patch can even be a negotiating tool. If a game fails certification, a developer can sometimes agree to fix the issue in a patch rather than resubmit the entire build.

Announcing a Release Date Too Early:

The consequences of missing an announced date depend on how much has been built around it. A date tied to creator campaigns, ads, press, and a website all has to move together. Preorders add a legal layer. In some regions, if a developer cannot meet the date on a preorder, the preorder has to be cancelled or the money returned.

When a date does slip, Mart recommends honesty. Tell players what happened, whether that is a missed approval or a forgotten requirement, and give them a new date as soon as it is known. Most players respond well to a straight explanation. Silence followed by a quiet delay does more damage.

On whether to delay at all, his answer was that it depends on how flexible the marketing plan is. If the launch is tied to a conference or a major beat that cannot move, the team has to work hard to hit the date. If there is room, a delay is possible. Either way, talk to the platform early. Telling them a month ahead is very different from telling them the day before.

When to Move From Coming Soon to a Release Date on Steam:

There is no formula, according to Mart. He suggested moving to a date once you are confident the game is close and you want to take advantage of a conference or marketing beat. Even large publishers get this wrong, which is why GTA VI moved more than once before settling.

A community member named Sarah raised a good point in the Discord chat. Players often find the phrase coming soon too vague, since it could mean tomorrow or never. Mart agreed. Coming soon should be used as a marketing beat to drive wishlists and interest, not left sitting on a page for years.

Timing also matters for choosing a window. September through November has traditionally been the peak season for AAA releases, aimed at Black Friday and the holidays. Many indie developers aim for summer or the weeks around December, or they plan around Steam Next Fest and the major Steam sales to avoid competing directly with big releases.

How Much Work Console Releases Add for a Small Team:

For a team without a publisher, Mart estimates that setting up a Steam page takes about sixty hours. Each console takes around two hundred hours, because there is no single portal. Console work deserves its own section of your game launch checklist for that reason. Developers jump between tools for build submission, sales submission, and storefront setup. Publishers usually bring their own release managers for this work, which is one of the real benefits of working with one.

His recommendation for small teams is to release on Steam first. It is the easiest platform and a good way to learn the full process. Console takes longer, and anyone planning to go there needs to think about porting, the SDK, and certification.

Porting is the biggest hidden cost. Smaller games can sometimes be ported with engine tools, but a larger game may need a porting house or a co developer, and the cost can run anywhere from five thousand to fifty thousand dollars. Some developers stay on PC for that reason alone. Mart pointed out that a publisher willing to handle porting for a revenue share is another possible route.

For managing builds, he suggested a tool like Perforce if the budget allows, and careful file naming if it does not. Whatever the method, always know exactly which build you are uploading.

Handling a Critical Bug Right Before Launch:

If a bug makes the game unplayable, do not ship it. If it can be fixed in a patch within twenty four to forty eight hours, shipping can still be reasonable. If it needs real development time, delay the release and tell the community why. Players who are following the game already know the team is working hard, and most will understand.

Large publishers handle launch risk with checklists, and Mart believes small studios need a game launch checklist too. Build a game launch checklist for before launch, covering release dates, platform approvals, and every storefront. Then build a second one for after launch. Confirm that the game actually went live on each storefront, in each language, in each country. The QA mindset applies here: verify everything.

Pricing, Discounts, and Launch Day Priorities:

For developers without a publisher guiding them, Mart suggested researching similar games to decide on launch price. A platformer should not be compared to Mario, and an adventure game should not be compared to God of War. Look for games with similar length and scope and see what they charged and how they discounted.

Pricing too low is the bigger risk. It is much harder to raise a price than to lower one. Mart also strongly recommends planning a launch discount or bundle, since discounts get games into storefront carousels and send emails to players who wishlisted the game.

Mart’s advice for the week of launch:

• Do not release with zero marketing. A single post on X or Discord is not enough. Use social channels, Twitch, Steam community posts, and personal outreach to friends and family
• On launch day, watch the community closely. Studios that listen, talk through problems openly, and patch quickly earn loyal players
• In the first week, keep communicating. Share what is being worked on next, watch sales and press coverage, and send well written emails with strong subject lines to journalists and creators
• Remember that many games launch on the same day. Mart noted more than a hundred releases on the same date as a game he was following, so grabbing attention takes deliberate effort

What Tadhana Does and How Indie Developers Can Use It:

Mart built Tadhana after leaving PlayStation. While consulting with publishers on release management teams, he realized he needed to relearn Microsoft, Nintendo, and Steam requirements, and he found it overwhelming. When he asked other release managers what they used, he was surprised to hear that people from AAA studios to indies relied on Excel sheets, Jira, and Google Docs.

Tadhana puts the game launch checklist items, localization requirements, and asset specifications for multiple platforms in one place. Mart offers special pricing for indie studios, including a free hobbyist option for very small teams. The indie pricing also includes one to two hours of consulting time with Mart. One publisher used that time to have him sit in while they pressed the release button, simply for peace of mind.
Use this game launch checklist as a starting point, then adapt it to the platforms you plan to release on.

Developers can book a demo through the Tadhana website. There is also a Tadhana Discord community with release managers who have twenty years of experience alongside indie developers who are only a few months in.

Want more insights like this? :

Join us for our IndieGameBusiness Deep Dive, taking place on December 9th or hop into the IndieGameBusiness® Discord to connect with Mart and other industry pros.

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