How to Publish a Video Game with GDevelop
Publishing a game can be hard, but it doesn't need to be. Here's how to publish a video game with GDevelop.
GDevelop is a free and easy-to-use game-making app. But making a game is one thing. What about sharing that game? That process is called publishing, and GDevelop has a robust set of export features. You can publish to the web, Android, iOS, Steam, and more. Let’s explore the options to help you choose which is best for you.
The Fastest Way to Publish: gd.games
Much like GDevelop aims to democratize the game-making process, gd.games makes it easy for you to publish your game. Games published on Liluo.io can be played on mobile, tablet, or desktop. All you need to publish your GDevelop game to gd.games is a free GDevelop account! Once you’ve set up your account, you can export your game to gd.games with a single click. Learn more about exporting your game to Liluo.io on the GDevelop wiki.
Once your game is on gd.games, you can share the link to your game with anyone. You can also submit your game to be considered for a featured spot on gd.games homepage. Publishing your game made with GDevelop on gd.games is free of charge.
Submit your game to gd.games and get exposed to thousands of potential players for your game!
See how easy it is to publish your game on gd.games, GDevelop's new game hosting platform.
Other One-Click Options
GDevelop also has the ability to create packages specifically made for the platform on which you’re planning to publish your game:
- Web: this option allows you to export your game to a folder and upload it manually to any host you want. You may also “wrap” the game into a desktop or mobile application manually using tools such as Electron. This is perfect to share your game on Game Jolt, Kongregate, Itch.io, Newgrounds, or other web game stores.
- Mobile: this process prepares your game for Android (iOS support is coming in the future). It builds it online, using GDevelop services. You then get to download an APK or AAB file so that you can install it on Android or publish it to the Google Play Store or the Amazon App Store.
- Desktop: this option bundles your game as a Windows, macOS, or Linux application, and builds it online using GDevelop services. You then get a link so that you can download and distribute your game on Steam, itch.io, and more.
- Facebook Instant Games (Messenger): this process prepares your game so that it can be uploaded on Facebook Instant Games and played on Facebook Gaming, shared with your friends, and then published worldwide.
Please keep in mind that there are daily limits to the quantity of free, automated, one-click builds. All these exports are free when you create a GDevelop account but are limited to a small number per day to avoid overloading GDevelop online services. There is, however, the possibility of supporting the project by purchasing one of the Premium subscriptions: Indie for €2 per month, or Pro for €7 per month.
They both allow you to disable and customize the GDevelop splashscreen, and both come with more daily one-click exports:
- Free: you can automatically export twice a day to an Android app and twice a day to Windows/macOS/Linux. You can automatically export to HTML5 locally an unlimited number of times.
- Indie: you can automatically export 10 times a day to an Android app and 10 times a day to Windows/macOS/Linux.
- Pro: you can automatically export 70 times a day to an Android app and 70 times a day to Windows/macOS/Linux.
Those are the only differences between having and not having a subscription. Tools like the Debugger, Live Preview, and other features in GDevelop are always free. With a subscription, you also help to pay for the hosting, server, and bandwidth costs for the packaging and other online services. Finally, you're also supporting the development of an open-source game engine accessible to everyone.
GDevelop also comes bundled with over 170 examples to get you started straight away, and an asset store full of free assets for you to use in your games, even commercially!
Unlimited Local Builds
Finally, there’s also the option of creating your own building environment. This is a more advanced process, but full instructions can be found on the GDevelop wiki. Though initially more labor-intensive, local build environments allow you to use your local computers to build games.
- Web: this option creates the same package as the one-click option above, but instead of using GDevelop’s servers to do it, it all happens right there on your computer.
- Mobile: this option is going to export your game ready to be used as a Cordova project. You can then use Cordova command-line tools to build your game for Android and iOS.
- Desktop: this option is going to export your game ready to be used as an Electron project. You can then use command-line tools to build your game for Windows, macOS, or Linux.
Publishing Doesn’t Need to be Hard
Making a game can be difficult. GDevelop hopes to help with that process by making it easier and more accessible. But publishing can be scary, too. However, it doesn’t need to be: GDevelop has a robust set of exporting features to have your game available on most platforms.