This playbook covers TODOS.phase-72.72.12.2.15: live ops documentation and a
single operator playbook for season pass operations, live events, hotfixing,
DLC, patch notes, player compensation, content calendar review, and analytics
review.
Authority#
This document is the operator-facing index for the V2 live ops program. The detailed source runbooks remain:
V2/docs/live-service/season-pass-progression.mdV2/docs/live-service/season-pass-reward-definitions.mdV2/docs/live-service/season-pass-xp-sources.mdV2/docs/live-service/season-pass-challenge-system.mdV2/docs/live-service/live-event-scheduling.mdV2/docs/live-service/live-event-content-delivery.mdV2/docs/live-service/limited-time-game-mode.mdV2/docs/live-service/hotfix-delivery.mdV2/docs/live-service/hotfix-testing-pipeline.mdV2/docs/live-service/dlc-content-delivery.mdV2/docs/live-service/patch-notes.mdV2/docs/live-service/player-compensation.mdV2/docs/live-service/content-calendar-management.mdV2/docs/live-service/live-ops-analytics.md
The validated contract is
V2/ue/Content/V2/LiveOps/LiveOpsDocumentationPlaybook_V2_Contract.json, and
the release gate is V2/ue/Tools/check-v2-live-ops-documentation-playbook.py.
Operator Scope#
Operators use this playbook when they need to coordinate:
- season pass progression, reward definitions, XP sources, and challenge
rotations through
@v2/season-pass-service - scheduled events through
@v2/live-event-scheduling-service - on-demand event asset delivery through
@v2/live-event-content-delivery-service - scheduled limited-time modes through
@v2/limited-time-game-mode-service - data-only hotfixes through
@v2/hotfix-delivery-service - pre-deployment regression gates through
@v2/hotfix-testing-pipeline-service - DLC and expansion delivery through
@v2/dlc-content-delivery-service - in-game and public patch notes through
@v2/patch-notes-service - make-good grants through
@v2/player-compensation-service - aggregate live ops analytics through
@v2/live-ops-analytics-service - calendar governance through
apps/v2/web/live-service/content-calendar
No client patch is required for the documented workflows when the client already supports the corresponding live-service surface. Production changes are server-authoritative and must leave audit evidence with an owner, reviewer, change reason, rollout window, rollback owner, and incident ID when applicable.
Calendar Lifecycle#
season-planning#
Start each season in the content calendar at least six months ahead. Link the season ID, target window, expected reward track, challenge cadence, live events, patch notes milestones, and analytics checkpoints before the season is approved.
reward-track-approval#
Approve free and premium reward definitions before the season opens. Every reward-track change must identify reward kind, tier, catalog reference, entitlement reference, player-visible copy owner, and rollback behavior.
challenge-rotation#
Review daily and weekly challenge rotations before they go active. Confirm the random pool, cadence, reward XP, currency rewards, duplicate prevention, and auto-rotation window.
event-scheduling#
Schedule live events with explicit start and end times, enabled game modes, event rewards, and conflict checks against other events, seasons, patches, and DLC releases.
content-delivery#
Before event launch, confirm event asset delivery plans for maps, cosmetics, NPC dialogue, download size, asset hashes, entitlement references, and retry behavior. Event content delivery must remain on-demand and without a full patch.
limited-time-mode-activation#
Activate limited-time modes only through approved schedule windows. The active queue state must name the owning event, start and end timestamps, exclusive-mode rules, and rollback owner.
Release And Hotfix Playbook#
hotfix-intake#
Open a hotfix intake record before authoring a data-only hotfix. The record must include kind, affected manifests, risk classification, intended mitigation, rollback plan, and whether the change fixes balance, exploit, or data-error behavior.
hotfix-regression-gate#
Run the hotfix testing pipeline before deployment. Required regression results must be present, passed, and attached as evidence before the deployment gate can approve the hotfix.
dlc-entitlement-release#
DLC and expansion releases must validate pack type, asset list, entitlement requirements, locked missing-entitlement response, download plan, and content unlocking behavior before publication.
patch-notes-publication#
Patch notes must be structured by balance, bug fixes, and new content. In-game payloads should match the public notes, include localized keys, and be scheduled before the corresponding patch or hotfix goes live.
Player Impact Review#
player-compensation#
Use player compensation when a bug or outage creates measurable player impact. Each campaign must include incident ID, affected-player evidence, approval records, item grants, currency grants, idempotency keys, and a post-grant ledger audit.
analytics-review#
Review live ops analytics after event launch, season midpoint, season close, and every hotfix deployment. The review must cover event participation rates, season pass completion rates, and hotfix effectiveness before deciding whether to extend content, rebalance XP, issue compensation, or roll back a hotfix.
The analytics-review evidence line must explicitly include
season pass completion rates so post-season reporting is searchable across
incidents.
Incident Controls#
rollback-and-kill-switch#
Every production live ops change must name a rollback owner and a rollback path. Hotfixes roll back through the hotfix manifest, events and limited-time modes roll back through schedule disablement, DLC rolls back through entitlement blocking, and player-facing communications roll back through patch notes or MOTD updates.
post-incident-review#
After any emergency hotfix, compensation campaign, outage, or forced schedule change, attach the incident ID, operator, reviewer, affected service, deployment timestamp, telemetry before/after, player communications, compensation decision, and follow-up work to the post-incident review.
Audit Evidence#
Every live ops production change must preserve:
- content calendar item or incident ID
- source runbook used
- operator and reviewer
- affected package or web surface
- production timestamp and planned end timestamp
- validation report or regression result
- rollout scope and rollback owner
- player communication plan
- analytics-review checkpoint
- post-incident-review link when applicable
Verification#
Run the relevant service gates for the affected surface, then run the cross-playbook gate:
python3 V2/ue/Tools/check-v2-season-pass-progression.py
python3 V2/ue/Tools/check-v2-season-pass-reward-definitions.py
python3 V2/ue/Tools/check-v2-season-pass-xp-sources.py
python3 V2/ue/Tools/check-v2-season-pass-challenge-system.py
python3 V2/ue/Tools/check-v2-live-event-scheduling.py
python3 V2/ue/Tools/check-v2-live-event-content-delivery.py
python3 V2/ue/Tools/check-v2-limited-time-game-mode.py
python3 V2/ue/Tools/check-v2-hotfix-delivery.py
python3 V2/ue/Tools/check-v2-hotfix-testing-pipeline.py
python3 V2/ue/Tools/check-v2-dlc-content-delivery.py
python3 V2/ue/Tools/check-v2-patch-notes.py
python3 V2/ue/Tools/check-v2-player-compensation.py
python3 V2/ue/Tools/check-v2-content-calendar-management.py
python3 V2/ue/Tools/check-v2-live-ops-analytics.py
python3 V2/ue/Tools/check-v2-live-ops-documentation-playbook.py
python3 V2/ue/Tools/check-v2-ci-workflow.py
python3 V2/tools/validate-v2-docs.py
Required gates:
live-ops-documentation-playbook-doclive-ops-documentation-playbook-source-linkslive-ops-documentation-playbook-season-event-calendarlive-ops-documentation-playbook-hotfix-releaselive-ops-documentation-playbook-dlc-patch-noteslive-ops-documentation-playbook-compensation-analyticslive-ops-documentation-playbook-incident-controlslive-ops-documentation-playbook-ci-wired