Distribution and Release

Distribution and Release

At some point you will inevitably come to the point where you ask yourself, How can I show the world what awesome app I made?

Choosing the correct option can be hard, as you will need to take many things into consideration. This guide aims to give you a deep dive into what platforms exist, what their requirements are, and what additional assets you have to produce.

Android / Meta Quest Distribution

There are four options for distributing an app on a Meta Quest (2):

• The "regular" Meta Quest Store which is directly integrated into the headset
• AppLab, a hidden "sub-store" in the Meta Quest-Store. Apps in this store are only accessible by searching for their exact name or special links.
• Sending the app manually and installing it using the Meta Quest Developer Hub
• Publishing to itch.io which requires manual installation via the Meta Quest Developer Hub
• Sideloading by publishing on SideQuest

The first two options might sound tempting, but all have special requirements, like signing the app as well as providing a special manifest-file.   Furthermore, both the Meta Quest Store and AppLab have some rather hard acceptance criteria (way harder than the PlayStore, Steam or Sideload).

Distributing everything manually is great when the app is distributed to a small group of known persons, like beta testers, museums or just friends.  

If you want to reach a broader audience, you may want to publish either on itch.io and/or Sidequest.   You will need to create some marketing materials (texts, images and videos). You can find more information on what you need in the Release Asset Guide.  

You will notice that Sidequest and itch.io have very similar requirements for their releases. The most noticeable difference being, that Sidequest does require a short manual review. However, Sidequest does come with the benefit of allowing users that have the Sidequest app installed to download the apps directly from their HMD.  

Another benefit is that Sidequest does require a host to download the game from, which can be itch.io. You do not have to worry about that, and you can even add a .exe-file for PC headsets. You will, however, reach fewer people on Itch.io and fewer that are willing to pay for it (if that is important for you).

Pc Distribution

The options for PC headsets are rather straight-forward:  

You can either try and release on Steam, this does require a few additional steps, such as a manual review, a website or some sort of web presence, over a month of time and an admission fee of $100 (approx. €90). You will find a list of the required assets in the Release Asset Guide.  

The easier solution is the release on itch.io. This is completely free, lets you create a web presence on the site, and can be combined with a release for Android/Meta Quest. You will, however, reach fewer people on Itch.io and fewer that are willing to pay for it (if that is important for you).