Manage Artifacts

Create and manage product artifacts and binaries

3 mins to read

This article covers functionality offered by the self-service Epic Games Store publishing tools. If the options described are not available to you, you may be using an alternate method of distribution. For documentation applicable to your experience, sign in to the Knowledge Base

Overview

In the Epic Games Store publishing tools, an artifact represents a group of binaries, metadata, and configurations used to fulfill user requests to download content. In the Dev Portal, the Artifacts and Binaries section allows you to review and upload binaries to your artifacts.

When you first create your product, an artifact for that product is automatically generated. Artifacts are also auto-generated for any additional offers you create that feature downloadable content, such as Demo type offers.

Note that artifacts are not automatically created for Add-On type offers as add-ons may or may not feature downloadable content. You can create artifacts for these offers as needed through the Offers section of the Dev Portal.

Notes about Offer Dates

Depending on how the release date is configured for an offer determines when uploading a binary to that offer’s artifact is necessary.

Estimated or Unknown Release Date: If an offer is configured with an estimated or unknown release date, uploading a binary is not required to push your offer to the Stage or Live sandbox. Binaries are only required when preparing for launch with an exact release date.
Exact Release Date: If the offer has been assigned an exact release date, the associated artifact must have an attached binary before it can be pushed to the Stage sandbox.

To learn more, review the Dates section of Manage Offers.

Create and Upload Your Build

Before You Begin

The BuildPatch tool (BPT) is a command line tool that allows you to securely package and upload binary files for your product to the Dev sandbox. You must use this tool in order to upload binaries to your artifacts in the Dev Portal.

To download the tool, follow the steps below:

Navigate to Your Product > Epic Games Store > Artifacts and Binaries.
To the top right, click Download Tool.
Refer to the BuildPatch Tool Instructions for more information.

Upload the Binary

Follow the steps below to attach binaries to your artifacts through the Manage Artifact screen. You can also review artifact details and active binaries from this screen.

In the Dev Portal, navigate to Your Product > Epic Games Store > Artifacts and Binaries.
Select an artifact to edit by clicking its name or the corresponding menu (...) icon.
On the Manage Artifact screen, click Upload Binary.
Use the BuildPatch Tool Instructions to complete this process.

After you upload your binary, you can add the appropriate labels to your artifact in the Dev Portal. To do so, follow the steps below:

Navigate to Your Product > Epic Games Store > Artifacts and Binaries. Then, select the appropriate artifact from the list.
On the Manage Artifacts screen, click the menu (...) icon in the Active Binaries section. Then, select Manage Platforms.
Select the appropriate platform for your build. Then, click Save Changes.

Once a platform has been selected, the binary automatically receives the Live label. These labels allow your binary to be accessible from the Epic Games Launcher.

Applying a label to a binary associates a label name (e.g., Live) and a platform (e.g., Win32) with a single binary version. Multiple labels can be assigned to the same binary. The Epic Games Launcher only queries for binaries associated with the platform on which it is currently running. For example, the Win32 Launcher client only queries using a platform of Win32, preventing it from receiving binaries labeled with Windows or Mac.