Quick answer: Decide before launch what counts as critical, what justifies a hotfix and who looks at new reports when. Then run three phases: launch week (daily triage, hotfix only blockers), the first month (weekly patches for the top crashes and the most-reported bugs) and steady state (a fixed bug budget in every update). Measure crash-free sessions per version, keep a public known-issues page, and tell players when their bug is fixed.
Before launch, bugs come from your team and a few hundred testers. After launch they come from everyone, on hardware you never tested, through Steam reviews, Discord, email and the in-game report button at once. Teams that decide the rules in advance handle it calmly; teams that improvise burn out in the first week.
Decide the rules before launch
| Severity | Definition | Response |
|---|---|---|
| Critical | Crash on launch, lost saves, progress blocked, purchase broken, for many players | Hotfix as soon as it is safe |
| High | Frequent crash or serious bug with a workaround | Next scheduled patch |
| Medium | Noticeable but does not stop play | When it fits in a patch |
| Low | Cosmetic, rare, edge case | Batch with related work, or won't fix |
Write the hotfix rule down: a hotfix is for critical bugs only, and ships with the smallest possible change. Everything else waits for the next patch, because rushed fixes cause most post-launch regressions. Decide who triages each day, who can approve a hotfix, and where players should report bugs.
Phase 1: launch week
- Triage twice a day. Morning and evening, fifteen minutes each, sorted by severity and number of affected players.
- Watch the crash-free rate per version, not just the report count. Report counts rise with player counts; the rate tells you whether things are getting worse.
- Read every negative review for bug reports in disguise: “crashes after the first boss” is a bug report.
- Hotfix only blockers. One or two hotfixes in launch week is normal; five means you are introducing new bugs.
- Post a known-issues list on day one and update it daily, so players stop reporting the same bug and see that you are on it.
Phase 2: the first month
- Patch weekly or fortnightly, each patch led by the top crashes and the most-reported bugs.
- Compare versions after each patch. If the new version's crash-free rate is worse than the last, stop and look before shipping more.
- Close the loop. Patch notes that name the fixed bugs, and a message to players who reported them, turn complaints into goodwill.
Phase 3: steady state
- Set a bug budget. Reserve a fixed share of every update, for example a quarter of it, for bugs, so content work never starves fixes completely.
- Triage weekly, with alerts for anything critical in between.
- Prune. Close bugs that no longer reproduce and mark old low-priority ones won't fix, honestly.
- Track trends: crash-free rate per version, open critical bugs, and review sentiment over time.
Tooling that makes this sustainable
The strategy works with any tools, but it depends on having every report in one place. Bugnet is built for that loop: engine SDKs capture crashes automatically and give players an in-game report button, duplicates stack onto one bug with a count, Steam, Google Play and App Store reviews sync into the same project, crash-free sessions are tracked per version on the Release Health tab, the public tracker doubles as your known-issues page, and players who left an email are told when their bug's status changes. Create a free project before launch so the first week's reports have somewhere to go.
Related: triaging bug reports efficiently, monitoring Steam reviews and generating patch notes from fixed bugs.
Frequently asked questions
How should indie developers handle bugs after launch?
Decide severity rules and a hotfix policy before launch, triage daily in launch week, patch the top crashes and most-reported bugs weekly in the first month, then reserve a fixed share of every update for bugs.
When should I release a hotfix?
Only for critical bugs that affect many players, such as crashes on launch, lost saves, blocked progress or broken purchases, and with the smallest possible change. Everything else waits for the next patch.
How often should I triage bugs after launch?
Twice a day in launch week, daily or every few days in the first month, then weekly, with alerts for critical issues in between.
What metrics should I watch after launch?
Crash-free sessions per version, the number of open critical bugs, the most frequent crashes and the share of negative reviews mentioning bugs.
Should I have a public known-issues page?
Yes. It reduces duplicate reports, shows players you are working on problems, and gives support a link to share.
Write the hotfix rule before launch. In launch week, every bug feels like an emergency.