War-game a locale priority list by testing whether market capacity, review gates, and freeze deadlines still shrink soft markets when several products share one catalog and the next launch chart is close.
Locale priority lists fail when "ready" means a checkbox without a decision artifact, when teams dual-count a draft as both reviewed and live, and when money paths still pin to one thin locale because the map is incomplete. The review needs one written inventory of markets, one owner who can deny a risky promotion, and a documented consequence when a failed review ages past the deadline.
Assemble the priority packet
List markets by product, weekly string volume, review gate, last promotion reason, owner of record, and evidence required to keep the priority. Attach open findings, overdue drafts, and any emergency promotion in the last quarter. Name which markets are out of scope and why. If a billing locale is omitted, show the residual risk in the same packet.
Decide allow, revise, or hold in advance. Include the fields that compute overdue-review status so two reviewers reach the same label from the same exports.
Claim matrix
| Claim | Evidence required | Fail condition |
|---|---|---|
| Market is staffed | Named translator roster and measured time-to-reviewed string | Roster is empty or still points to a single untested vendor lane |
| Promotion is complete | Catalog export showing approved state for the claimed fields | Ticket closed while export still shows draft |
| Priority is unique | Sample catalog proving no double-booked market rank | Rank invents uniqueness the catalog never enforced |
| Override is controlled | Logged use with time-bound restore of review | Shared override or unlogged use |
Walk four cases in Pingpong: a funnel still pinned to one overloaded locale, a promotion that left a revenue string live without finance, a market that mixed product and marketing content, and a request to skip a support locale because volume is rare. Start from the documented priority language. Ask who can extend a freeze window and which export proves review. Any step that depends on an unnamed person becomes a locale condition.
Replay one prior launch incident under the proposed rules. If the incident would still age without a reverse owner, revise the rules before calling the priority list ready.
Pair with the localization lead seat, an i18n freeze stress test, and a translation vendor switch review. More operating decisions live in the war-game decisions hub.
Close only when promoted and blocked labels can be reproduced from stored exports without a verbal override.