Definition: When a game is said to have "gone gold," it means that the code has been finalized and is ready to be duplicated for distribution. The term goes back to the days when recordable CDs were manufactured using gold film, leading the source CD to be called the "golden master." Unlike the music industry, it is not a reference to the number of copies sold. It will typically take several weeks for a game to ship to stores and become available to consumers after it has gone gold.
Examples:
The sequel to EverQuest has gone gold.
