How do I detect regressions in my game?

Compare versions, watch for new failures, and monitor at the right time. Compare each new version against the last, the clearest detection method, since a build with a higher crash rate or new failures than the previous one has regressed and the comparison makes it obvious. Watch for new crash signatures that didn't exist before the update, since a failure mode your previous builds never had is almost certainly a regression the update introduced. Monitor closely right after each release with alerts, since that's when regressions appear as players hit the new build, and run regression checks before shipping to catch them earlier. Detecting regressions fast keeps updates from quietly degrading your game over time.

What's the best way to catch a regression quickly?

Version-over-version comparison with monitoring right after release. The fastest, clearest signal that a release regressed is its crash rate or failure set being worse than the previous version, so tracking crashes per version and comparing each new build against the last isolates exactly the question that matters, did this update make something worse? Pairing that with close monitoring and alerts immediately after a release catches the regression in minutes, as players adopt the new build and the worsened numbers (or a brand-new crash signature) appear. This combination, per-version comparison plus post-release alerting, is what compresses the window a regression survives from days down to minutes.

How do new crash signatures help detect regressions?

They catch a whole class of regression that volume alone misses: the ones that introduce an entirely new failure mode. A regression doesn't always show up as more of an existing crash, sometimes an update breaks something in a new way, producing a crash signature your previous builds never had. Watching for new signatures appearing after a release flags these directly, since a crash that didn't exist before the update and does after is almost certainly introduced by it. Grouping crashes by signature and tracking them per version makes a new signature on a new build stand out as a likely regression, complementing crash-rate comparison so you catch both worsened existing crashes and newly-introduced ones.

Tips for Detecting Regressions

Quick answer: Compare each new version against the last, watch for new crash signatures, monitor right after each release, and run regression checks before shipping. Fast detection keeps updates from degrading your game.

A regression, something that used to work breaking in an update, is one of the most common and most damaging ways a game degrades over time. Detecting them fast is what keeps your game from quietly getting worse. Here are practical tips for detecting regressions.

Compare Each New Version Against the Last

The clearest way to detect a regression is comparison, hold each new version up against the previous one. A new build with a higher crash rate or new failures than the last has regressed, and the comparison makes it obvious. Without per-version comparison, regressions hide in the overall noise.

Bugnet tracks crash rate per version, so comparing each release against the last is direct. Version-over-version comparison is the single most effective regression-detection technique, because it isolates exactly what changed, did this update make something worse than before?

Watch for New Crash Signatures That Didn't Exist Before

A regression often shows up as a new crash signature, a failure mode your previous builds never had. So watch for new signatures appearing after a release, since a crash that didn't exist before the update and does after is almost certainly a regression the update introduced.

Bugnet groups crashes by signature and tracks them per version, so a new signature on a new build stands out as a likely regression. Watching for new failure modes, not just rising volume, catches regressions that introduce entirely new crashes rather than worsening existing ones.

Monitor Right After Release and Test Before Shipping

Regressions appear right after a release as players hit the new build, so monitor closely then, with alerts, so a regression is caught in minutes. And run regression checks before shipping to catch them earlier, the combination covers regressions both before they ship and right after, minimizing how long any survive.

Bugnet alerts on crash spikes and tracks per version, catching post-release regressions fast. So detect regressions by comparing versions, watching for new signatures, monitoring after release, and testing before shipping, keeping updates from quietly degrading your game over time.

Compare each new version against the last, watch for new crash signatures, monitor right after each release, and run regression checks before shipping. Fast detection keeps updates from quietly degrading your game.