Possible bugs-inconsistencies...

[SirGrotius]

I'm wondering how much optimizing and updating can be done between the release of the demo and the official launch, which is what, 4 weeks away? I imagine the game has to be shipped a week in advance, at least?

[Spino]

I'm wondering how much optimizing and updating can be done between the release of the demo and the official launch, which is what, 4 weeks away? I imagine the game has to be shipped a week in advance, at least?

Probably not much. Even if there are a few irksome bugs or imbalanced units to deal with there may not be enough time to update the code and send it off to Q&A for adequate testing in time to make the shipping date. I think it's safe to say that CA is pretty much limiting themselves to some minor tweaking and polishing right now. For all we know the final release candidate has already been selected and is currently being put through rigorous last minute testing. Any bugs found in the final release candidate that aren't stand outs or show stoppers would be relegated to the patch list.

Usually a game has to have gone gold and the gold master sent to the factories at least a week or two before shipping.