Building and publishing: fundamentals
↑How it works and why
Section titled “How it works and why”A player build packages the code, scenes and runtime assets needed for a particular target platform. Running in Editor Play Mode is not the same as running the standalone player: scripting backend, asset loading, initialization order, resolution and platform APIs can behave differently.
Before building, verify that all required scenes are in the active build profile, the platform module is installed, the application identifier/version is correct and the scripting backend matches the platform. Keep generated builds outside Assets/ and out of source control.
Windows 10, Windows 11 and Linux
Section titled “Windows 10, Windows 11 and Linux”Windows 10 and Windows 11 use the Windows x64 player target; Linux uses a separate Linux x64 target. Use a supported Editor version on each host, install its platform modules, and keep separate output folders such as Builds/Windows/ and Builds/Linux/. Building on one OS does not mean the result runs on every OS. Test the Windows artifact on both Windows versions and the Linux artifact on your supported distribution. See build output for packaging and logs on each system.
Example you can try
Section titled “Example you can try”[ ] Select the correct platform and build profile[ ] Include the startup scene and dependent scenes[ ] Check Player Settings (company, product, identifier, version)[ ] Choose Development Build only when debugging[ ] Build into a clean output directory outside Assets/[ ] Launch the generated player and inspect its logsWhen to use it and what can go wrong
Section titled “When to use it and what can go wrong”Development vs release: A development build can include instrumentation useful for troubleshooting, while production builds should be validated with release settings. Try it: Build the same small scene in development and release configurations and compare output and logs.