Publishing to Web, itch.io & App Stores.

Your game isn't real until people can play it. Let's ship.

After this lesson you'll know

How to deploy your game to the web for free in under 5 minutes
How to publish on itch.io and reach the indie game community
The app store submission process for iOS and Android
Marketing basics that get your game noticed on launch day

Web Deploy

Free hosting, instant deploy.

Your HTML5 game is already a website. Hosting it is trivial and free.

Vercel: Connect your GitHub repo. Every push auto-deploys. Free tier handles thousands of players. Takes 2 minutes to set up.

Netlify: Drag and drop your game folder onto netlify.com. Instant deploy with a free URL. Zero configuration.

GitHub Pages: Push to a repo, enable Pages in settings. Your game lives at yourusername.github.io/game-name. Free forever.

All three options give you HTTPS (required for service workers/PWA), custom domain support, and global CDN distribution. Your game loads fast everywhere on the planet.

Custom domain: A game at yourgame.com looks more professional than a subdomain. Domains cost around $10/year. Worth it if you're serious about your game.

itch.io

The indie game marketplace.

itch.io is where indie games live. It's free to publish, has a built-in audience of gamers looking for new experiences, and supports HTML5 games natively -- players play right in the browser.

Publishing steps:

1. Create an itch.io account (free). 2. Click "Upload new project." 3. Set the type to "HTML" and upload your game files as a ZIP. 4. Set your pricing (free, pay-what-you-want, or fixed price). 5. Write a compelling description and upload screenshots. 6. Publish.

The itch.io community is supportive and loves experimental games. Game jams on itch.io are also incredible for visibility -- enter a jam, ship a game in 48 hours, and get hundreds of plays and feedback.

Monetization on itch.io: "Pay what you want" with a suggested price of $2-5 performs best. Players who enjoy your game often pay voluntarily. Some indie devs make consistent side income this way.

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