gold master

English

Alternative forms

• golden master, GM

Etymology

See master (“original document or recording”). They used to be prepared on gold-coloured recordable compact discs.

Noun

gold master (plural gold masters)

1. The finished version of a software program, which is sent for duplication onto physical media to be distributed.
   • 2006, Phil Co, Level Design for Games, New Riders:

     The gold master is the version of the game that will be shipped to stores—the end product, the finish line.

   • 2013, Rich Newman, Cinematic Game Secrets for Creative Directors and Producers, Taylor & Francis, →ISBN, page 52:

     Chances are good that the game you were developing will be played on one or more consoles; as a result, you will also have to submit the Gold Master to the console's manufacturer for approval as well.

Derived terms

• go gold

Further reading

• “golden master”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.