Quick answer: Test both the fresh-install and the update path, migrate or validate old data on update, and make sure first-run defaults and leftover-data handling are both correct.

A bug that hits new players but not updaters (or vice versa) is a difference in starting data. Testing both paths and handling old data correctly fixes it. Here is how.

How to fix it

1. Test both paths

Install fresh and also update from the previous version. Bugs in save migration and leftover-data handling appear only on the update path; first-run bugs appear only on fresh install. Each needs its own test.

2. Migrate and validate old data

On update, old saves, settings, and caches may be in a previous format or hold stale values. Migrate them forward and validate them rather than assuming the new code reads them correctly.

3. Handle first-run defaults

On a fresh install, create defaults and folders before reading them. A path that works because an updater already has the data crashes for a new player who does not.

Catching the ones you can't reproduce

The hardest version of this to fix is the one you can't reproduce — it only happens on a player's hardware, OS, driver, or save state, under conditions that simply aren't present on your machine. A report that says “it crashed” or “it froze” gives you nothing to act on, so the bug survives release after release while quietly costing you players.

Automatic error capture closes that gap. Each failure arrives with its full stack trace, the device and OS, the build number, and a breadcrumb trail of what the player did right before it broke, so even a failure you have never seen becomes a specific, reproducible issue. Fold identical failures into one signature ranked by how many players each hits, and your worklist sorts itself worst-first instead of arriving as a stream of vague complaints.

This is where a tool like Bugnet earns its place. Its SDK captures every your game error automatically with the full stack trace plus device, OS, memory, build, and game-state context, folds duplicates into one grouped issue with an occurrence count, and ties each to the build it first appeared on — so you fix the problem that hurts the most players first and confirm it is gone when its signature disappears from the next release.

Reproduce it once with full context and the fix writes itself. The hunt is the expensive part.