diff --git a/.github/release.yml b/.github/release.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b907a9b0c2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/release.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+# Copyright 2023 Google LLC
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+changelog:
+  exclude:
+    labels:
+      - duplicate
+      - question
+      - invalid
+      - wontfix
+  categories:
+    - title: Breaking changes
+      labels:
+        - kind/breaking
+    - title: Implemented enhancements
+      labels:
+        - kind/feature
+    - title: Fixed bugs
+      labels:
+        - kind/bug
+    - title: Security fixes
+      labels:
+        - area/security
+    - title: Other
+      labels:
+        - "*"        
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/docs/governance/templates/release_issue.md b/docs/governance/templates/release_issue.md
index 628f21c620..05550a7d5b 100644
--- a/docs/governance/templates/release_issue.md
+++ b/docs/governance/templates/release_issue.md
@@ -13,8 +13,8 @@ and copy it into a release issue. Fill in relevant values, found inside {}
 - [ ] Have permission to publish new versions of the App Engine application.
 - [ ] Have write access to Agones GitHub repository.
 - [ ] Run `git remote -v` and see:
-    - [ ] An `origin` remote that points to a personal fork of Agones, such as `git@github.com:yourname/agones.git`.
-    - [ ] An `upstream` remote that points to `git@github.com:googleforgames/agones.git`.
+  - [ ] An `origin` remote that points to a personal fork of Agones, such as `git@github.com:yourname/agones.git`.
+  - [ ] An `upstream` remote that points to `git@github.com:googleforgames/agones.git`.
 - [ ] Have a [GitHub Personal Access Token](https://github.com/settings/tokens) with repo permissions.
 - [ ] Have a `gcloud config configurations` configuration called `agones-images` that points to the same project.
 - [ ] Edit access to the [Agones Release Calendar](https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/0?cid=Z29vZ2xlLmNvbV84MjhuOGYxOGhmYnRyczR2dTRoMXNrczIxOEBncm91cC5jYWxlbmRhci5nb29nbGUuY29t)
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ and copy it into a release issue. Fill in relevant values, found inside {}
 
 - [ ] Run `make shell` and run `gcloud config configurations activate agones-images`.
 - [ ] Review [closed issues with no milestone](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/issues?q=is%3Aissue+is%3Aclosed+no%3Amilestone++-label%3Ainvalid+-label%3Aduplicate+-label%3Aquestion+-label%3Awontfix++-label%3Aarea%2Fmeta) and add relevant ones to the current milestone.
-    - Issues tagged as `invalid`, `duplicate`, `question`, `wontfix`, or `area/meta` can be ignored
+  - Issues tagged as `invalid`, `duplicate`, `question`, `wontfix`, or `area/meta` don't need review.
 - [ ] Review closed issues in the current milestone to ensure that they have appropriate tags.
 - [ ] Review [merged PRs that have no milestone](https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/pulls?q=is%3Apr+is%3Amerged+no%3Amilestone+) and add them to the current milestone.
 - [ ] Review merged PRs in the current milestone to ensure that they have appropriate tags.
@@ -32,27 +32,32 @@ and copy it into a release issue. Fill in relevant values, found inside {}
 - [ ] Any issues in the current milestone that are not closed, move to next milestone.
 - [ ] `git checkout main && git pull --rebase upstream main`
 - [ ] Run `make release-deploy-site`
-- [ ] Run `make build-release` to generate the CHANGELOG.md and to ensure all example images exist on us-docker.pkg.dev/agones-images/examples.
-- [ ] Download all the artifacts from the cloud build.
-- [ ] Move the CHANGELOG.md to the root of this repository, replacing any previous versions.
-- [ ] Ensure the [helm `tag` value][values] is correct (should be {version})
-- [ ] Ensure the [helm `Chart` version values][chart] are correct (should be {version})
+      - For example, if you are creating the {version} release, then this would deploy the {version}-1 service (release minus one, and then replace dots with dashes)
+- [ ] Run `make build-release` to ensure all example images exist on us-docker.pkg.dev/agones-images/examples.
+- [ ] Ensure the [helm `tag` value][values] is correct (tag field value in image should be {version})
+- [ ] Ensure the [helm `Chart` version values][chart] are correct (appVersion and version fields value should be {version})
 - [ ] Update SDK Package Versions
-  - [ ] Update the package version in [`sdks/nodejs/package.json`][package.json] and [`sdks/nodejs/package-lock.json`][package-lock.json] by running `npm version {version}`
-  - [ ] Ensure the [`sdks/csharp/sdk/AgonesSDK.nuspec` and `sdks/csharp/sdk/csharp-sdk.csproj`][csharp] versions are correct (should be {version})
-  - [ ] Update the package version in the [`sdks/unity/package.json`][unity] package file's `Version` field to {version}
+  - [ ] Navigate to the `sdks/nodejs` directory and run `npm version {version}` to update the package version in [`sdks/nodejs/package.json`][package.json] and [`sdks/nodejs/package-lock.json`][package-lock.json]
+  - [ ] Ensure the [`sdks/csharp/sdk/AgonesSDK.nuspec` and `sdks/csharp/sdk/csharp-sdk.csproj`][csharp] versions are correct (package -> version field value in AgonesSDK.nuspec and PropertyGroup -> Version field value in csharp-sdk.csproj should be {version})
+  - [ ] Update the package version in the [`sdks/unity/package.json`][unity] package file's `version` field to {version}
 - [ ] Run `make gen-install`
-- [ ] Create a *draft* release with the [release template][release-template]
-    - [ ] Make a `tag` with the release version.
+- [ ] Create a _draft_ release with the [release template][release-template].
+  - run `make release-example-image-markdown` to populate example images and append the output in `Images available with this release` section
+  - [ ] Draft a new release with [release draft][release-draft]. Update the `Tag version` and `Release title` with the release version and click on `Generate release notes` to generate the release notes with `Full Changelog` info for {version}. Make sure to add the description. Include the `Images available with this release` section from the previous step that will be present after the `Full Changelog` and save the draft.
+  - [ ] copy the {version} release details from the `Full Changelog` and paste it on top of the CHANGELOG.md file
 - [ ] Site updated
-  - [ ] Copy the draft release content into a new `/site/content/en/blog/releases` content (this will be what you send via email).
+  - [ ] Create a new file named {version}.md in `/site/content/en/blog/releases`. Copy the draft release content in this file (this will be what you send via email)[refer the previous release file].
+  - run `make site-server` frequently to make sure everything looks fine for the release in your localhost
   - [ ] In `site/content/en/docs/Installation/_index.md #agones-and-kubernetes-supported-versions`, for the current version, replace `{{% k8s-version %}}` with hardcoded Kubernetes versions supported by the current version. And add a row for the Agones release version with `{{% k8s-version %}}` as its supported Kubernetes versions.
-  - [ ] Review all `link_test` and `data-proofer-ignore` attributes and remove for link testing
-  - [ ] Review and remove all instances of the `feature` shortcode
-  - [ ] Add a link to previous version's documentation to nav dropdown.
+  - [ ] Review all `link_test` and `data-proofer-ignore` attributes and remove for link testing [delete `data-proofer-ignore` from the release file of previous version]
+  - [ ] Review and remove all instances of the `feature` shortcode.
+    - Ignore html and release files.
+    - remove the `feature expiryVersion` block with content. remove only the block of `feature publishVersion` and do not remove the content.
+    - In helm.md file, merge the rows that are present in the `New Configurations Features` table into the above `Configuration` table. The `New Configurations Features` table gets left in place (but empty) and the publishVersion bumped to the next upcoming release.
+  - [ ] Add a link to previous version's documentation to nav dropdown in `site/layouts/partials/navbar.html`
   - [ ] config.toml updates:
     - [ ] Update `release_branch` to the new release branch for {version}.
-    - [ ] Update `release-version` with the new release version {version}.
+    - [ ] Update `release_version` with the new release version {version}.
     - [ ] Copy `dev_supported_k8s` to `supported_k8s`.
     - [ ] Copy `dev_k8s_api_version` to `k8s_api_version`.
     - [ ] Copy `dev_gke_example_cluster_version` to `gke_example_cluster_version`.
@@ -62,19 +67,18 @@ and copy it into a release issue. Fill in relevant values, found inside {}
     - [ ] Update documentation with updated example images tags.
 - [ ] Create PR with these changes, and merge them with an approval.
 - [ ] Run `git remote update && git checkout main && git reset --hard upstream/main` to ensure your code is in line
-  with upstream  (unless this is a hotfix, then do the same, but for the release branch)
+      with upstream (unless this is a hotfix, then do the same, but for the release branch)
 - [ ] Publish SDK packages
-    - [ ] Run `make sdk-shell-node` to get interactive shell to publish node package. Requires Google internal process
-      to publish.
-    - [ ] Run `make sdk-publish-csharp` to deploy to NuGet. Requires login credentials.
-      Will need [NuGet API Key](https://www.nuget.org/account/apikeys) from Agones account.
+  - [ ] Run `make sdk-shell-node` to get interactive shell to publish node package. Requires Google internal process
+        to publish.
+  - [ ] Run `make sdk-publish-csharp` to deploy to NuGet. Requires login credentials.
+        Will need [NuGet API Key](https://www.nuget.org/account/apikeys) from Agones account.
 - [ ] Run `make do-release` to create and push the docker images and helm chart.
 - [ ] Run `make shell` and run `gcloud config configurations activate <your development project>` to switch Agones
-    development tooling off of the `agones-images` project.
+      development tooling off of the `agones-images` project.
 - [ ] Do a `helm repo add agones https://agones.dev/chart/stable` / `helm repo update` and verify that the new
-  version is available via the command `helm search repo agones --versions --devel`.
-- [ ] Do a `helm install --namespace=agones-system agones agones/agones`
-   and a smoke test to confirm everything is working.
+      version is available via the command `helm search repo agones --versions --devel`.
+- [ ] Do a `helm install --namespace=agones-system agones agones/agones` or `helm install --create-namespace --namespace=agones-system agones agones/agones` if the namespace was deleted and a smoke test to confirm everything is working.
 - [ ] Attach all assets found in the `release` folder to the draft GitHub Release.
 - [ ] Copy any review changes from the release blog post into the draft GitHub release.
 - [ ] Publish the draft GitHub Release.
@@ -83,21 +87,23 @@ and copy it into a release issue. Fill in relevant values, found inside {}
 - [ ] Post to the [agonesdev](https://twitter.com/agonesdev) Twitter account.
 - [ ] Run `git checkout main`.
 - [ ] Then increment the `base_version` in [`build/Makefile`][build-makefile]
-- [ ] Move [helm `tag` value][values] is set to {version}+1-dev
-- [ ] Move the [helm `Chart` version values][chart] is to {version}+1-dev
+- [ ] Move [helm `tag` value][values] is set to {version}+1-dev (update tag field value under image)
+- [ ] Move the [helm `Chart` version values][chart] is to {version}+1-dev (update appVersion and version fields)
 - [ ] Change to the `sdks/nodejs` directory and run the command `npm version {version}+1-dev` to update the package version
 - [ ] Move the [`sdks/csharp/sdk/AgonesSDK.nuspec` and `sdks/csharp/sdk/csharp-sdk.csproj`][csharp] to {version}+1-dev
-- [ ] Update the [`sdks/unity/package.json`][unity] package file's `Version` field to {version}+1-dev
+- [ ] Update the [`sdks/unity/package.json`][unity] package file's `version` field to {version}+1-dev
 - [ ] Run `make gen-install gen-api-docs`
 - [ ] Create PR with these changes, and merge them with approval
 - [ ] Close this issue.
 - [ ] Close the current milestone. _Congratulations!_ - the release is now complete! :tada: :clap: :smile: :+1:
 
-[values]: https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/blob/main/install/helm/agones/values.yaml#L33
-[chart]: https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/blob/main/install/helm/agones/Chart.yaml
+[values]: https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/blob/main/install/helm/agones/values.yaml#L224
+[chart]: https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/blob/main/install/helm/agones/Chart.yaml#L18-L19
 [list]: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/agones-discuss
 [release-template]: https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/blob/main/docs/governance/templates/release.md
+[release-draft]: https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/releases
 [build-makefile]: https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/blob/main/build/Makefile
 [package.json]: https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/blob/main/sdks/nodejs/package.json
 [package-lock.json]: https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/blob/main/sdks/nodejs/package-lock.json
 [csharp]: https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/blob/main/sdks/csharp/sdk/
+[unity]: https://github.com/googleforgames/agones/blob/main/sdks/unity/package.json