Guidebook
Ship your games and apps through your own launcher
Everything a studio needs to go from a packaged build to players installing and updating it: the Unreal plugin, releases, the launcher, players, your team and your plan.
Your first release in 10 minutes
Get started
- Quickstart: from Unreal to your players
Studio, game, plugin, first release, launcher build and what players see, in ten minutes.
- What Deltaship is
Your own branded launcher, small updates and a release dashboard for your games and apps, Unreal Engine or any engine.
- Create a studio
Sign up, confirm your email and create your first game.
- Your first release in 10 minutes
From a packaged build to players installing it through your launcher.
Unreal plugin
- The Unreal plugin
Install from Fab and what the plugin does with and without an account.
- Prepare and verify a build
Make a packaged build patch-ready and check it before you ship.
- Compare builds and patch size
See what players will download, and the packaging settings that make updates bigger.
- Export, sign in and publish
Export a release folder, or sign in and upload straight to your studio.
- Publish tokens and CI
Tokens for the plugin and for headless publishing from CI.
- Publishing from CI
The GitHub Action and the command-line publisher, with tokens from your CI secrets.
- Troubleshooting the plugin
Common problems when preparing, uploading and publishing builds.
Releases
- Channels and publishing
Live, beta and custom channels; publishing and rolling back.
- How updates reach players
Players download only what changed, verified, and resume where they left off.
- Release history and kept releases
Which releases are kept and when older ones are removed.
Launcher
- The launcher builder
Design your launcher with a live preview, then publish it.
- The launcher designer
Templates, elements, sizes, buttons, controller order, publishing and versions.
- Prepare your launcher art
Hero layers, effects, covers and icons: what to make, at what size, and sample kits to start from.
- Installer and launcher builds
Your launcher's name, icon and installer, and how to request a signed build.
- The launcher for players
Signing in, settings, install location, verify and repair, uninstall.
- Launcher updates and platforms
How the launcher updates itself, and which systems it runs on.
Players and publishing
- Players and the player portal
Invite-only or open sign-up, the portal, disabling players and limits.
- Publishing: news, patch notes and maintenance
Posts players open in your launcher and on your news page: scheduling, audience, translations and patch notes on releases.
Studio
- Team and roles
Owners, admins, developers and viewers, and what each can do.
- Emails Deltaship sends
Account emails and the notices owners and admins receive, and when.
- Plans and limits
What each plan includes and what happens at a limit.
- Upgrade, change plan and cancel
Paying with Paddle, changing plan, cancelling and what a failed payment does.
- Inactivity, payments and downgrades
The Free inactivity rule, failed payments and moving to a smaller plan.
- Your own storage
Serve your game files from your own R2, Amazon S3 or Google Cloud bucket.
- Security overview
Signed releases, verified installs, isolated studios, and what Deltaship can see.
- Status and maintenance
Where to check Deltaship's status, how maintenance is announced, and telling your players.
- FAQ
Short answers to common questions.