Post-Release Updates for iOS?

Unity Engine
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1

Hello. I’m planning out my first mobile title; I’d like to get something out relatively quickly and have a long tail with regular updates. My first major concern is actually patching the game. I saw asset bundles are the typical recommendation, but then I discovered scripts cannot be included. I need the flexibility of being able to introduce new mechanics and behaviors, without the pressure of having to plan so far ahead that all future scripts are included in the original download.

What I’m hoping for is a process similar to Steam, where I simply upload a new build to Steamworks and it’s auto-installed the next time players open the client. I’ve barely seen mention of this, but it appears something similar is possible on iOS - resubmitting a published game, subject to review by Apple? Can anyone confirm this? Do repeated submissions have a monetary cost, or just a delay as we wait for Apple to review?

2

You can submit as many updates to your app as you like on iOS/App Store. It doesn’t cost anything extra, you just need to wait for the review process. I’ve found that updates seem to be pretty fast at getting through review anyway, years ago it used to take a week or more but recently I pushed an update that went through review and to the store within 4 hours. (https://appreviewtimes.com/ has more info on that)

You can also add release notes that get shown to your users when they install the update. I’m guessing most people have their iOS device set to auto download updates.

3

Cool, so almost as easy as Steam. That makes things a lot less complicated. Thanks!