Share Your Game: Zip It, Upload to itch.io, and Beyond

The last mile: getting your game into someone else's hands

You've packaged your project, so somewhere on your disk there's a folder with a .exe in it that actually runs your game. That's a huge milestone — but a folder on your own machine isn't something you can hand to a friend, post in a Discord, or put in your portfolio. To share it, you need to do two simple things: bundle the build into a single downloadable file (a zip), and host that file somewhere people can reach.

This lesson covers the friendliest possible path for a first hobby release: zip the build correctly, then upload it to itch.io — a popular, beginner-welcoming home for indie and hobby games where you can have a free download page online in minutes. We'll finish with a short, honest reality check on what 'bigger storefronts' actually involve, so you go in with clear expectations and no surprises.

What to include — and what NOT to include

This is where most first-timers trip up, so let's be precise. When you package, Unreal creates a folder for your platform (for a Windows build this is usually a 'Windows' folder). Inside it you'll find your game's .exe alongside supporting folders — typically an 'Engine' folder and a folder named after your project that holds the cooked content. All of that together is the game.

The single most important rule: zip the folder that lets the game run as a self-contained unit, with the .exe and its sibling folders inside the zip. If you zip only the .exe by itself, it won't run on someone else's machine because all its data is missing.

Do NOT include your editor project. Files like the .uproject, the Content, Source, Config, Saved and Intermediate folders are your development project — they are large, may contain things you don't want public, and are not needed to play the game. Players only ever need the packaged output.

Zip your build and upload it to itch.io

Work top to bottom. Each row stays ticked even if you close the page and come back, so you can pick up where you left off.

1. ✓
   1Find your packaged build folder

   Open the folder where you told Unreal to package the project. You're looking for the platform folder (for Windows, commonly a folder called 'Windows') that contains your game's .exe and its supporting folders.

   Open that folder and confirm the .exe is sitting in there next to the other folders. This whole folder is what you'll be zipping.

   TipIf you can't remember where you packaged it, re-run the package step and watch the output log — it prints the destination path when it finishes.

2. ✓
   2Test the build by running it

   Double-click the .exe and play for a minute. Make sure it launches, the main menu (or first level) loads, and nothing obvious is broken.

   This is your last checkpoint before strangers download it. Catching a problem now is painless; catching it after twenty people have downloaded a broken build is not.

   TipBonus check: copy the build folder to a different drive or a friend's PC and run it there. That confirms the build is truly self-contained and not secretly leaning on files only your machine has.

3. ✓
   3Zip the build folder

   In your file explorer, right-click the build folder and choose your operating system's 'compress' or 'send to zipped folder' option to create a single .zip file.

   Give the zip a clear, version-friendly name like 'MyGame-Win-v0_1.zip'. Including a version number now saves confusion later when you upload updates.

   TipOpen the finished zip and glance inside to confirm the .exe and its sibling folders are in there. A zip that's only a few kilobytes is a red flag that you zipped the wrong thing.

4. ✓
   4Create a free itch.io account and start a new project

   Go to itch.io and sign up for a free account. Once signed in, look for the option to upload or create a new project (creators reach this from their dashboard / 'Upload new project' area).

   On the new project page, give your game a title and choose that you're uploading a downloadable game (as opposed to, say, a web game). Set the pricing to free, or 'name your own price', for a first hobby release.

   TipYou don't need everything perfect on day one — you can keep the page as a draft and only make it public when you're ready.

5. ✓
   5Upload your zip and tag the platform

   In the project's files section, upload the .zip you made. itch.io lets you mark an uploaded file as being for a specific platform — mark it as a Windows download so players see the right button.

   Wait for the upload to finish completely before navigating away. Large builds can take a while depending on your connection.

   TipIf your zip is very large, revisit the 'reduce package size' lesson — a leaner build uploads faster and is friendlier for players to download.

6. ✓
   6Add a description, screenshots, and instructions

   Write a short description of what the game is, add a couple of screenshots, and include plain instructions — for example, 'Download the zip, extract it, and run the .exe inside.' That extract-first step trips up players, so spell it out.

   Note the controls and mention it's a Windows build so Mac/Linux players aren't disappointed.

   TipA clear 'how to run it' line dramatically cuts the 'it won't open!' messages — many people forget they have to extract a zip before running anything.

7. ✓
   7Save as draft, preview, then publish

   Save the page and use the preview to see it as a visitor would. Click through as if you were a player: does the download work, does the description make sense?

   When you're happy, set the page's visibility to public. Your game now has a real, shareable URL you can post anywhere.

   TipKeep the page as a draft while you're still tweaking — only flip it to public once you've previewed the download end to end.