Timed releases

Schedule your Imagina world's first release from the Release Timing section of the editor, with a date or a plain announcement, so players can find its card early and ask to be notified when it comes out.

A timed release puts a world's card in front of players before it is out. The card leads your profile, the world page shows a countdown in place of Play, and players ask to be notified. At the date, the version you chose is published automatically and everyone waiting hears about it.

Why announce early

A new world lands better with people already waiting for it. The share link works from the day you announce, so a post or a trailer can point at the card weeks ahead. Each Notify me is a player who comes back on release day without a reminder from you. A date also gives you a deadline.

Scheduling a release

Timed releases are open to verified creators for now (see Badges), and only for a world's first release.

Open Essentials → Release Timing in the editor. On a world that has never been published, it offers two choices:

Release date shows a date picker. The time is in UTC, and your own local time shows under it. Pick a date and time in the next 12 months, then Schedule release.
No date yet needs no date. The button is Announce.

A callout spells out what will happen. Save your changes first: the release uses the saved version you have open. Everything a publish checks is checked when you schedule: a name, a title card, and the same limits and rules as a published world. The version you schedule is the one that comes out, and its card is public from that moment.

Clicking Publish while a release is pending releases the world at once, like Release now.

Managing a scheduled release

Once scheduled, the section shows where things stand: "Comes out automatically on Friday, November 13 at 9:00 PM", or for an announcement "Announced, not released. Without a date, the card is hidden on January 30".

From there you can:

Switch between No date yet and Release date, then Save, or Set a date when there was none.
Release now, which publishes the scheduled version at once. Players waiting are notified.
Cancel timed release. The card is hidden again. The waiting list is kept.
Open the public page to see what players get.

The section counts the players waiting. Only you see that number. A preview, On your profile, shows the card as it sits in your catalog.

What players see

On your profile, coming-soon worlds lead the catalog, each with a calendar icon and "Coming soon" or a date such as "Coming Nov 13". They are listed nowhere else, not on the home page and not in browse. Point people at the card yourself. The share link works and shows a link preview.

The world page is built from the scheduled version: title card, background, name, description, tags and characters. Edits to that version show on the card, so keep it presentable. Instructions and secrets stay private, as on a published world. Comments are not open before release.

Under the cover sits a "Coming soon" label with a calendar icon, the countdown, and "Releases" with the date or "Release date to be announced." In place of Play, Notify me turns into You'll be notified once clicked. A player who follows you sees a greyed You'll be notified with "You follow this creator.", since your first publish reaches followers anyway. Signed out, it reads Sign in to get notified.

Once the date passes, the page reads "Out any minute now." and reloads automatically when the world is out.

On release day

Within about a minute of the date, the scheduled version is published. Everyone who clicked Notify me gets one notification, "A world you were waiting for is out". They also get an email with the title card and a Play now button, unless the world is NSFW (no email then) or they turned New world notifications off in their notification settings. Followers who were also waiting hear it once, not twice. The card ends, Play appears and comments open.

If the publish is refused, for example because the world went over a limit after edits, the date is cleared. Players see "Release date to be announced" and you get a notification. Fix the world, then set a new date or use Release now.

Announcements without a date

An announcement with no date is hidden after 90 days. You are notified, the players waiting are kept, and you can announce the world again from the Release Timing section.

One release per world

A world that has ever been published cannot use a timed release, and once it is out, unpublishing does not bring the card back. Schedule a version you would be happy to see go live without you.

Best practices

Announce a date you can keep. Move it from the Release Timing section rather than let it pass. Start with Announce if the world is far from done.
Schedule a finished version. The release goes out whether or not you are at your desk. Playtest first.
Share the link. The page URL is the same before and after release.