What does it take to get a game up on the Google Play Store these days?

Besides having to set up and pay for a developer account, there's a new requirement that seems to have popped up since the last time I launched an app. Using a new developer account created for our ActionSprite label, I discovered that "newbies" are treated a little differently.

The new requirement is that you MUST conduct a test launch before you can release to the public. This means using the different release tracks that Google has in the Play Console. Specifically, you need to conduct at least a Closed test. The requirements for this are that you need to have 20 testers opt into the test and remain in the test group for 14 days. Once this is complete, you'll then be able to launch to the live Play Store. There's a bit of conjecture about whether the app has to be installed or not, and if it needs to stay installed, but essentially those are the rules, and if you stick to them you should be safe.

Is there any point to this, Google?

What this is, though, is quite annoying! It's an extra hurdle that ultimately feels quite meaningless because of what people end up doing. Just like me, there's a community of developers that have turned to Reddit and found the group specifically set up for developers to get other developers to join their test groups:

 https://www.reddit.com/r/AndroidClosedTesting/ 

If my experience is anything to go by, it becomes a mindless exercise of clicking on a link to a Google group, joining it, installing an app, never running it, and then repeating this process 20 or so times to get enough reciprocal installs from other developers. This seems to be happening all across the developer community. 

So, what's the point? I'm not exactly sure. It creates a bit of extra friction between creating an app, setting up your account, and having it available to the public, but really, it just feels like a stalling tactic. Possibly, there's some way that it's stopping the automation of shovel ware accounts?  Google is smarter than me, so there's got to be some purpose to it.

Having said that, Google is known for putting rules and systems in place and then backtracking on them in a swift pivot. So, it could be a trial and error type thing for them. Remember Google Plus? It became integral for your ranking on SEO, or at least to help boost your listings, and then they just pulled it completely, which is kind of crazy, considering how big of an investment it was and how many people in the SEO world had jumped on board. 

So anyway, we've got 'Rizzo' up on a Closed Test at the moment, which means you can get the jump and download the beta right away! To join the group and get the game for your Phone, please follow the instructions here: https://www.reddit.com/r/AndroidClosedTesting/comments/1cdl2ot/need_20_closed_te...

Question - I'm not sure if this new requirement is for every app that's released, or if it's just for the first app on new accounts. Has anyone had this experience on an existing account that has apps already released?