I am struggling with what I can find about releasing a increment in the scrum guide and forum and blogs.
The way I read the scum guide it states that:
“An Increment is a concrete stepping stone toward the Product Goal. Each Increment is additive to all prior Increments and thoroughly verified, ensuring that all Increments work together. In order to provide value, the Increment must be usable.”
The must be usable implies for me that it is released! Because a not released increment is not usable.