A date needs a named event
A game can have an original release, a later translation, a new platform edition, an Early Access launch, and a full release. Each event answers a different question. A single date on a store page should not automatically stand for all of them, especially when a work existed before it arrived at that store.
Adult Game Index uses first release for the earliest verified publication of the underlying work and records later edition dates separately. When the evidence establishes only the date of one storefront release, the record describes that narrower event. It does not silently promote the date to an unverified worldwide debut.
Announced dates are not completed events
An announced launch window is evidence of a plan. It becomes a historical release date only when publication is confirmed. Steam’s developer tools distinguish a planned internal date from the public wording shown to players, which can give a day, month, quarter, year, or an unspecified Coming Soon message. The public page may therefore be less precise than a developer’s internal schedule.
Store visibility is a separate event. Steam’s release process distinguishes preparing a public store presence from releasing a game build. A page becoming visible, receiving a translated description, or appearing in an upcoming list does not demonstrate that the game was available to play on that date.
Keep the precision the evidence supports
A source that establishes only 2019 should produce a year-level date, not January 1, 2019. A month-level record should likewise retain its month precision. An unknown date is a missing fact, not an invitation to fill a sortable field with a convenient placeholder. Display and sorting should respect that difference.
Date conflicts require checking the event and edition. Two sources may refer to different regions, a physical and digital release, or the timing of a local launch rather than disagreeing about the same event. Where a source names a local calendar date without a time, the entry should preserve that reported date rather than inventing a UTC timestamp that could move it into another day.
The database has its own dates
Recently Added describes when an entry was first published in this encyclopedia. Entry Updated concerns a substantive change to that entry. A source-check date records when a reference was examined. None of these describes when the game first came out, and refreshing a page should not manufacture a new historical event.
Release history is most useful as a sequence of clearly labeled milestones. An unfinished public release and a later full release can both deserve a place in that sequence. An expansion, remaster, or port should be named as such. When the precise original history remains unresolved, a concise explanation of what is verified is more informative than a falsely definitive date.
References
- Release Dates. Valve / Steamworks Documentation.
- Release Process. Valve / Steamworks Documentation.
- Early Access. Valve / Steamworks Documentation.