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Why Isn't My Major Update Appearing in the Recent Updates Section?

A topic by Lust And Roll created 61 days ago Views: 337 Replies: 11
Viewing posts 1 to 5
(1 edit)

I recently released a major update for my game. I waited exactly 33 days after the previous update before releasing it. I specifically waited longer than 30 days to ensure I wasn't abusing the update system and that I was following itch.io's guidelines.

For this release, I marked the update as a "major update," published a detailed devlog, and added a significant amount of new content to the game. The update is clearly visible on the game's page and includes a substantial amount of new material.

However, despite meeting all these requirements and waiting 33 days between updates, my game is not appearing in the Recent Updates section. What makes this particularly confusing is that I can see other projects appearing under similar conditions, but my game isn't being listed.

As a developer, this is quite demoralizing because I've made every effort to follow the rules properly.

I would appreciate any clarification on why my game isn't showing up in the Recent Updates section, or whether there's something specific about my page or update that might be preventing it from appearing.

Note: The game I am referring to here is Crown of the Devil (Public Version).

Yes, the game has been published for a while now and there has still been no response.

I looked through other threads from developers who experienced the same issue. In those discussions, people mentioned that I simply needed to wait and that an admin would eventually review it in some way.

I'm still waiting, so I was wondering if anyone knows roughly how long this waiting period usually is.

About 2 weeks

(+1)

 So, if my game gets approved in two weeks, will it be shown at the top of 'Most Recent'? Or will it be buried by other games that came out later? If it's the second case, then getting approved after two weeks won't be very helpful, will it? Also, does the 30-day cooldown apply to the date the major update devlog was approved or posted?

Moderator (1 edit)

Your game will show up in Most Recent according to when it was published. You shouldn’t rely on that for visibility. And the 30-day cooldown is not a rule. It’s just one thing taken into account by itch.io staff. Please do your own advertising.

Dear No Time To Play,

Could you clarify what factors the itch.io team actually takes into consideration during their review process?

What exactly do we need to do for a major update to be considered eligible for appearing in the "Most Recent" section? I understand that the 30-day waiting period is only one of the factors taken into account. Publishing devlogs, releasing a genuinely substantial update, and maintaining a well-presented game page also seem to be part of the criteria.

However, beyond these points, I'm still unsure what itch.io expects from developers. We are already actively promoting and advertising our game ourselves. Assuming we have done all of the above, is there a specific level of traffic or engagement that itch.io looks for? For example, do we need to bring a certain number of visitors to our game page?

Or, even after meeting all of these criteria, does the final decision ultimately come down to the discretion of the itch.io team? To what extent do the opinions and judgments of the staff members reviewing the game influence the outcome?

I would greatly appreciate any clarification you can provide on how this process works.

Moderator

I don’t know. They’re not saying. Please stop worrying about Most Recent and rely on your own advertising.

Two weeks? I'm a little confused.

I just released a new version of my game and it's already live. Does that mean I need to wait up to two weeks before it can appear in the "Recent Updates" section?

I've followed all the recommendations, updated the game properly, and even driven traffic to the page myself.

Honestly, two weeks feels like a very long time for a newly released update to be recognized. Could you clarify if this is expected behavior or if there's anything else I should do?

Will this always be the case?

If I release a new update in the future, wait this long, follow all the guidelines, and still end up in the same situation, that's very discouraging.

As an indie developer, this is honestly quite demoralizing. It makes the whole process feel very unpredictable, and it's difficult to know what to expect or plan for when releasing updates.

This is traffic I brought to the page myself.


Moderator

Being indexed on itch.io is not guaranteed. It’s a convenience to players looking for a specific game, not a marketing tool. Please plan to rely on your own advertising.

When you publish your game for the first time, it usually has a chance to appear in the "Recent" section. However, if you wait 33 days and release a major update, even after meeting all the requirements to be featured again, your game may still not appear there. What's even more frustrating is that there is often no clear explanation as to why it didn't qualify.

Because of this, it seems that releasing your game in episodes may be a reasonable strategy, especially if you're a developer trying to grow your audience. Instead of updating the existing page, creating a new page for each major release could help your project regain visibility.

Of course, this approach comes with trade-offs. By creating a new page, you may lose your existing collections, comments, and some of the social proof that has accumulated around your project.

At the moment, this is the conclusion I've come to regarding the issue. That said, to avoid abusing the system, I believe this approach should only be used for genuinely substantial updates that can justify being treated as a new release.

(+1)

It happen to me too, after 2 weeks has your game been up to most recent or do we really need to depend on other ways to advertise too?

(+1)

Unfortunately, it never showed up, even after waiting.

Because of that, we changed our publishing strategy on itch.io. We used to keep updating the same game page with new versions. Instead, we decided to split the game into chapters. For each new chapter, we publish a new itch.io page and remove the old one. We also redesigned the game to fit this release model.

Some people underestimate the exposure that itch.io provides, but in our experience, it's far more valuable than many think. We didn't want to lose that visibility, so we had to change our publishing strategy.

Yes, this means we're willing to lose our collections, ratings, and user feedback after every major update. It was a bit disappointing, but we realized we didn't have any other practical choice.

We only do this for our public version.