How to Soft Launch Apps and Games - Our Humble Guide
Soft launches help you test your app or game in real markets before going global. Fix problems in smaller markets, then launch worldwide with confidence.
But, what is a Soft Launch exactly?
A soft launch is releasing your app or game to a limited audience in select markets before your global launch. Think of it as your dress rehearsal - you're testing with real users, real money, and real app store dynamics, but in a controlled environment where mistakes won't kill your global opportunity.
This is different than a "proper" full launch/release, with complete marketing push, wide audience, where a company goes All-in with their product.
Soft launch vs beta testing vs MVP testing:
Sometimes these phases are separate: MVP → Tech QA → Soft launch. Other times, companies combine tech and marketing testing during soft launch to speed up feedback (or even all three—if you've got budget and feel super confident about your MVP).
That can work, but only if you're closely monitoring both product bugs and marketing metrics. What matters is knowing exactly which questions you're trying to answer at each stage.
Why Soft Launch? The Strategic Benefits
1. Risk Mitigation
Test your app without burning your best markets. You avoid launching in the country where your audience is most qualified and if you acquire users for a game that doesn't work, those players won't return. Better to learn in secondary markets.
2. User Feedback at Scale
More meaningful than friends and family, less risky than global launch. You get real usage patterns from strangers who found your app organically or through small paid campaigns.
3. Marketing and Monetisation Validation
You can gather some important information to inform the global launch (what monetises best? what is the best marketing angle to use?)
4. Technical Stress Testing
Test your server infrastructure and ensure it can handle the load of a global launch. Better to discover your backend can't handle 1,000 concurrent users in Canada than 100,000 globally (sorry Canadian readers)
5. App Store Optimization
Test your app store pages, keywords, screenshots, and descriptions. Soft launching gives you the opportunity to see if your app store pages are optimized before your global audience sees them.
How to Execute a Soft Launch
Geographic Selection
Choose countries with affinity to your target market. If your game has minimal text or simple gameplay, language will have little effect. If it includes complex mechanics, choose English-speaking countries or those with large English-speaking populations. Remember users might different than bigger and more established markets (US)
Popular soft launch markets:
- • Canada: Similar to US market but smaller
- • Australia/New Zealand: English-speaking, good iOS penetration
- • Philippines: Large English-speaking mobile audience
- • Netherlands: Tech-savvy, representative of European markets
Platform Strategy
Most developers test on Android first for better data, then validate monetization on iOS. Android gives you real-time attribution (no SKAN delays), while iOS has attribution limitations but is where most revenue comes from. The trade-off: optimize on Android data while knowing your main money comes from "the other church."
User Acquisition for Soft Launch
Start with small budgets focused on testing channels and gathering data. In most cases, Facebook is the best starting point for initial testing, then expand to other platforms like Google Ads and app networks based on performance.
Campaign optimization reality:
You'll start by optimizing for installs, even though it's not ideal. For both campaign and technical reasons, you need volume first. The algorithms need around 50 events per week to optimize on meaningful actions like purchases or ROAS. Until you hit that threshold, you're stuck with install optimization.
Approach:
- • Begin with install campaigns to gather initial data
- • Switch to event-based optimization once you hit 50+ events per week
- • Factor in SKAN delays when analyzing iOS campaign performance
- • Have a good number of creatives available to maximise the potential of the launch and learn from it
- • Don't waste time on organic discovery - focus on paid channels that can scale
Duration: don't rush it, but don't stay too long either.
Is Soft Launch Right for You?
Use this decision framework:
✅ Yes, if you have:
- • Budget for 4-8 weeks of testing
- • Time to iterate and improve the product and marketing
❌ No, if you have:
- • Very limited money
- • Simple, utility-focused app that can hardly be improved
- • Strong network effects dependency
- • B2B/enterprise target market that require human sales
The bottom line:
Soft launch is insurance against global launch disasters. It costs time and money upfront but saves you from burning your best markets with a broken product.
Most apps skip it and regret it. The smart ones test, iterate on real data, and then either proceed to launch successfully or go back to the drawing board.
Need help planning your soft launch strategy?
At useracquisition.io, we specialize in taking apps and games from MVP to global scale. But only for companies ready to test systematically and move fast.
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