So I am on course to release Game of Loot on Sept. 30th. However, I have some questions as to how iTunes classifies your release in regards to eligibility in the 'New and Noteworthy' section. In a given week, when is the cutoff for being included in the 'New and Noteworthy' section for that Thursday's update? ie: If you want to be considered for Thursday's 12 o'clock update when should you make your app available on the app store? (I am assuming that if you miss the cutoff then you are considered the following week?) If you make your app available on Thursday 12:01am, is the app considered for the 12 o'clock 'New and Noteworthy' update in the next 12 hours or the following week or at all for that matter? If you want an app to be considered for the following week's 'New and Noteworthy' section, when is the earliest it can be released...thus being available on the app store the longest before 'New and Noteworthy' consideration? Any guidance for this would be highly appreciated. Thanks!
There is not really any strict cutoff for New and Noteworthy or Best New Games. We've had games which have been out over 2 years which appeared in these. However, in order to capture whatever featuring you can on your release week, I'd recommend that, yes, you should be available as early as possible on the Thursday morning. We set all our games to release on Thursday at 12am.
There's an option to automatically release an app on a given date which is quite practical. If you choose a Thursday, your app will go live in every specific App Store as they reach 12am and you'll make sure to not pass the deadline on that given week.
Best New Games is typically most of the new releases for that week. As for the order which your app appears, only Apple knows. New and Noteworthy has been appearing less and less but has less of a "cutoff" as you say. Whereas Best New Games refreshes weekly. To ensure candidacy for featuring by Apple, you should have an approved submission at least a few days ahead of Thursday. Monday or Tuesday of that week at the latest to have an approved submission from Apple for a release candidate. Then late Wednesday/early Thursday switch it on to be listed in the App Store. The App Store typically refreshes its featuring in the US around 4pm Eastern, and nearly all of those apps can be found on the App Store when searching by 10am Eastern at the latest.