Polishing, Launch, and Community

This capstone unit guides students through finalizing a playable game, preparing for launch, and sustaining post-release life through feedback-driven iteration, accessibility, and legal/ethical compliance. Students will apply industry practices from game jams and conferences, develop launch and time-management plans, and prepare portfolio-ready materials and documentation.

Learning Objectives

• Analyze audience data and playtester feedback to prioritize and implement feature changes that improve player experience and retention
• Apply legal, ethical, and accessibility guidelines to game content and documentation, producing a compliance checklist, asset licenses, and an accessibility implementation plan
• Demonstrate launch readiness by creating and executing a release plan that includes build pipeline steps, store/marketing assets, a post-launch patch schedule, and time-management strategies
• Evaluate post-launch engagement and iteration strategies (including community feedback channels, game jams, and industry best practices) and incorporate lessons into a portfolio-ready presentation of the project