Quick answer: Shipping every update to 100% on day one risks player loss. A staged rollout (canary 1%, beta 10%, stable 100%) catches regressions while they're recoverable.
Rolling out to 100% on day one is brave. Rolling out staged is professional.
Canary first
1% of players. Watch crash rate for 24h. If stable, advance.
Beta next
10%. 24-72h watch. Regression catch rate is high in this tier.
Stable last
100%. By this point, the build has 1000+ player-hours of validation.
Rollback path
Each tier can roll back. The path is critical to test; not just defined.
“Staged rollouts buy you time to find regressions before they're widespread.”
If your store supports staged rollout (Steam, Play Console, App Store), use it. The friction is small; the safety is large.