According to Scrum Guide, when is a Product Increment released?

• A. After stakeholders approval
• B. After the increment passes all validations
• C. At the end of each Sprint
• D. When the Product Owner decides to release it

Answer: (D)

In Scrum, the Product Increment is considered potentially releasable and ready for deployment if needed. The decision to actually release an Increment is made by the Product Owner. This means the team delivers a complete, usable Increment at the end of a Sprint, but whether it gets released to users is a business decision handled by the Product Owner, not a requirement that happens automatically after each Sprint, after stakeholder approval, or only after it passes any external validations. The key idea is that the Increment is ready and could be released, but the release timing is determined by the Product Owner based on value and strategy.