When is the worst date to release a casual game?

[Josepho]

Im new on this, and i would like to know when i shouldnt release my game

Thanks

[LilGames]

April 1st

Everyone will think it's a joke.

[joe]

Release it as fast as you can. I don't say release a buggy game, but when you really finished it: Release it. The earlier - the better. Each day you wait will be lost money ;-)

[billy7777]

I'm somewhat curious about this too.... first and 15th of each month is payday for alot of people. Also April 15th might not be the best day either since some people will be writing checks to the IRS.

[arcadetown]

From my observations there's never a bad time to release a good game so later is the worst time IMO.

[Polycount Productions]

Im new on this, and i would like to know when i shouldnt release my game

Thanks

"tomorrow". Better do it "today" as soon as you can.

[ZeHa]

I don't think there's a worst date or something. As soon as it is out, people can buy it. Where's the problem?

Of course, if you're about to finish your game and it's a month before Christmas, it might be good to finish it very soon than if it would take 6 weeks more. But on the other hand, don't sacrifice quality by hurrying because of something like that.

[Shaz]

I thought if you're selling through portals you don't have a whole lot of control over when it's released - it's just when it fits in with their schedule and their other games. From what I've read it seems you could TRY and release it to the portals but it could take some time for them to accept and publish it. And if you're releasing it on your own site, I'd think it would depend more on how much traffic you have than on when you release it (so again, the sooner you start building traffic and expectation - rather than release the game - the better).

[Grey Alien]

yeah releasing near Christmas is not good if you want to get on portals as they simply won't respond to emails because they are so busy.

[Nexic]

Christmas is a good time, resulting in a few extra sales but really not enough of a difference to stall a release for several months. Unless holiday themed release as soon as you possibly can.

[arcadetown]

I will modify my statement a little. If you're shooting for xmas I'd release far before xmas. Last xmas we started getting absolutely crushed starting around mid Nov with submissions. Other portals did as well. It was much larger than prior years, and expect this year to be even more so. If your game stands out then no problem, but if it's another "me-too" game I suggest releasing it some other time so less competition.

btw - xmas release perhaps has a little spike but means virtually nothing here sales wise. Suspect probably similar at other portals since sales industry wide are generally increasing.

[Greg Squire]

The worst time to release is "never" (which is where I'm headed if I don't "knuckle down"). Just get it out there as soon as you can. ;)

I think the whole concept of a "best time to release" is somewhat flawed (at least for Indies). It's influenced by the old retail publishing mindset, where you only get a few months window to get your ROI (return on investment), so they look for the "best window" (usually a couple of months before Christmas) in the market and shoot for that. This may be slightly true with portals, but generally with indie games it isn't, AFAIK. Indie games can sell for years on end.