diff --git a/.release-please-manifest.json b/.release-please-manifest.json
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..9a0fae89c592
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.release-please-manifest.json
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+{
+  ".": "2.70.1"
+}
diff --git a/google-cloud-bigtable-bom/pom.xml b/google-cloud-bigtable-bom/pom.xml
index c488f4904eeb..800a9ce8eb3b 100644
--- a/google-cloud-bigtable-bom/pom.xml
+++ b/google-cloud-bigtable-bom/pom.xml
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
     <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
     <groupId>com.google.cloud</groupId>
     <artifactId>google-cloud-bigtable-bom</artifactId>
-    <version>2.70.0</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-bigtable:current} -->
+    <version>2.70.1-rc1-SNAPSHOT</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-bigtable:current} -->
     <packaging>pom</packaging>
     <parent>
         <groupId>com.google.cloud</groupId>
@@ -63,37 +63,37 @@
         <dependency>
           <groupId>com.google.cloud</groupId>
           <artifactId>google-cloud-bigtable</artifactId>
-          <version>2.70.0</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-bigtable:current} -->
+          <version>2.70.1-rc1-SNAPSHOT</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-bigtable:current} -->
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
           <groupId>com.google.cloud</groupId>
           <artifactId>google-cloud-bigtable-emulator</artifactId>
-          <version>0.207.0</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-bigtable-emulator:current} -->
+          <version>0.207.1-rc1-SNAPSHOT</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-bigtable-emulator:current} -->
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
           <groupId>com.google.cloud</groupId>
           <artifactId>google-cloud-bigtable-emulator-core</artifactId>
-          <version>0.207.0</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-bigtable-emulator:current} -->
+          <version>0.207.1-rc1-SNAPSHOT</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-bigtable-emulator:current} -->
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
           <groupId>com.google.api.grpc</groupId>
           <artifactId>grpc-google-cloud-bigtable-admin-v2</artifactId>
-          <version>2.70.0</version><!-- {x-version-update:grpc-google-cloud-bigtable-admin-v2:current} -->
+          <version>2.70.1-rc1-SNAPSHOT</version><!-- {x-version-update:grpc-google-cloud-bigtable-admin-v2:current} -->
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
           <groupId>com.google.api.grpc</groupId>
           <artifactId>grpc-google-cloud-bigtable-v2</artifactId>
-          <version>2.70.0</version><!-- {x-version-update:grpc-google-cloud-bigtable-v2:current} -->
+          <version>2.70.1-rc1-SNAPSHOT</version><!-- {x-version-update:grpc-google-cloud-bigtable-v2:current} -->
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
           <groupId>com.google.api.grpc</groupId>
           <artifactId>proto-google-cloud-bigtable-admin-v2</artifactId>
-          <version>2.70.0</version><!-- {x-version-update:proto-google-cloud-bigtable-admin-v2:current} -->
+          <version>2.70.1-rc1-SNAPSHOT</version><!-- {x-version-update:proto-google-cloud-bigtable-admin-v2:current} -->
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
           <groupId>com.google.api.grpc</groupId>
           <artifactId>proto-google-cloud-bigtable-v2</artifactId>
-          <version>2.70.0</version><!-- {x-version-update:proto-google-cloud-bigtable-v2:current} -->
+          <version>2.70.1-rc1-SNAPSHOT</version><!-- {x-version-update:proto-google-cloud-bigtable-v2:current} -->
         </dependency>
       </dependencies>
     </dependencyManagement>
diff --git a/google-cloud-bigtable-deps-bom/pom.xml b/google-cloud-bigtable-deps-bom/pom.xml
index d2d6f24b1358..cd1655a7c376 100644
--- a/google-cloud-bigtable-deps-bom/pom.xml
+++ b/google-cloud-bigtable-deps-bom/pom.xml
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
 
   <groupId>com.google.cloud</groupId>
   <artifactId>google-cloud-bigtable-deps-bom</artifactId>
-  <version>2.70.0</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-bigtable:current} -->
+  <version>2.70.1-rc1-SNAPSHOT</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-bigtable:current} -->
 
   <packaging>pom</packaging>
   <name>Google Cloud Bigtable Dependency BOM</name>
diff --git a/google-cloud-bigtable-emulator-core/pom.xml b/google-cloud-bigtable-emulator-core/pom.xml
index 81b76affcf28..cab5b27fed68 100644
--- a/google-cloud-bigtable-emulator-core/pom.xml
+++ b/google-cloud-bigtable-emulator-core/pom.xml
@@ -7,12 +7,12 @@
   <parent>
     <artifactId>google-cloud-bigtable-parent</artifactId>
     <groupId>com.google.cloud</groupId>
-    <version>2.70.0</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-bigtable:current} -->
+    <version>2.70.1-rc1-SNAPSHOT</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-bigtable:current} -->
   </parent>
   <name>Google Cloud Java - Bigtable Emulator Core</name>
 
   <artifactId>google-cloud-bigtable-emulator-core</artifactId>
-  <version>0.207.0</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-bigtable-emulator:current} -->
+  <version>0.207.1-rc1-SNAPSHOT</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-bigtable-emulator:current} -->
 
   <description>
     A Java wrapper for the Cloud Bigtable emulator.
diff --git a/google-cloud-bigtable-emulator/pom.xml b/google-cloud-bigtable-emulator/pom.xml
index 0b9fed06df9b..6c698bdbc285 100644
--- a/google-cloud-bigtable-emulator/pom.xml
+++ b/google-cloud-bigtable-emulator/pom.xml
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
   <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
 
   <artifactId>google-cloud-bigtable-emulator</artifactId>
-  <version>0.207.0</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-bigtable-emulator:current} -->
+  <version>0.207.1-rc1-SNAPSHOT</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-bigtable-emulator:current} -->
   <name>Google Cloud Java - Bigtable Emulator</name>
   <url>https://github.com/googleapis/java-bigtable</url>
   <description>
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
   <parent>
     <groupId>com.google.cloud</groupId>
     <artifactId>google-cloud-bigtable-parent</artifactId>
-    <version>2.70.0</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-bigtable:current} -->
+    <version>2.70.1-rc1-SNAPSHOT</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-bigtable:current} -->
   </parent>
   <scm>
     <connection>scm:git:git@github.com:googleapis/java-bigtable.git</connection>
@@ -81,14 +81,14 @@
       <dependency>
         <groupId>com.google.cloud</groupId>
         <artifactId>google-cloud-bigtable-deps-bom</artifactId>
-        <version>2.70.0</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-bigtable:current} -->
+        <version>2.70.1-rc1-SNAPSHOT</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-bigtable:current} -->
         <type>pom</type>
         <scope>import</scope>
       </dependency>
       <dependency>
         <groupId>com.google.cloud</groupId>
         <artifactId>google-cloud-bigtable-bom</artifactId>
-        <version>2.70.0</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-bigtable:current} -->
+        <version>2.70.1-rc1-SNAPSHOT</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-bigtable:current} -->
         <type>pom</type>
         <scope>import</scope>
       </dependency>
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@
     <dependency>
       <groupId>com.google.cloud</groupId>
       <artifactId>google-cloud-bigtable-emulator-core</artifactId>
-      <version>0.207.0</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-bigtable-emulator:current} -->
+      <version>0.207.1-rc1-SNAPSHOT</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-bigtable-emulator:current} -->
     </dependency>
 
     <dependency>
diff --git a/google-cloud-bigtable/pom.xml b/google-cloud-bigtable/pom.xml
index 6a4b3fd21c28..a299fdeddd6c 100644
--- a/google-cloud-bigtable/pom.xml
+++ b/google-cloud-bigtable/pom.xml
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 <project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
   <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
   <artifactId>google-cloud-bigtable</artifactId>
-  <version>2.70.0</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-bigtable:current} -->
+  <version>2.70.1-rc1-SNAPSHOT</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-bigtable:current} -->
   <packaging>jar</packaging>
   <name>Google Cloud Bigtable</name>
   <url>https://github.com/googleapis/java-bigtable</url>
@@ -12,11 +12,11 @@
   <parent>
     <groupId>com.google.cloud</groupId>
     <artifactId>google-cloud-bigtable-parent</artifactId>
-    <version>2.70.0</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-bigtable:current} -->
+    <version>2.70.1-rc1-SNAPSHOT</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-bigtable:current} -->
   </parent>
   <properties>
     <!-- The version that will be embedded in the published jar via maven-resources-plugin -->
-    <java-bigtable.version>2.70.0</java-bigtable.version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-bigtable:current} -->
+    <java-bigtable.version>2.70.1-rc1-SNAPSHOT</java-bigtable.version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-bigtable:current} -->
 
     <site.installationModule>google-cloud-bigtable</site.installationModule>
 
@@ -54,14 +54,14 @@
       <dependency>
         <groupId>com.google.cloud</groupId>
         <artifactId>google-cloud-bigtable-deps-bom</artifactId>
-        <version>2.70.0</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-bigtable:current} -->
+        <version>2.70.1-rc1-SNAPSHOT</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-bigtable:current} -->
         <type>pom</type>
         <scope>import</scope>
       </dependency>
       <dependency>
         <groupId>com.google.cloud</groupId>
         <artifactId>google-cloud-bigtable-bom</artifactId>
-        <version>2.70.0</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-bigtable:current} -->
+        <version>2.70.1-rc1-SNAPSHOT</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-bigtable:current} -->
         <type>pom</type>
         <scope>import</scope>
       </dependency>
diff --git a/google-cloud-bigtable/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/bigtable/Version.java b/google-cloud-bigtable/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/bigtable/Version.java
index 169e965d61a5..3b784d6eba98 100644
--- a/google-cloud-bigtable/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/bigtable/Version.java
+++ b/google-cloud-bigtable/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/bigtable/Version.java
@@ -20,6 +20,6 @@
 @InternalApi("For internal use only")
 public final class Version {
   // {x-version-update-start:google-cloud-bigtable:current}
-  public static String VERSION = "2.70.0";
+  public static String VERSION = "2.70.1-rc1-SNAPSHOT";
   // {x-version-update-end}
 }
diff --git a/google-cloud-bigtable/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/bigtable/data/v2/stub/metrics/BigtableExporterUtils.java b/google-cloud-bigtable/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/bigtable/data/v2/stub/metrics/BigtableExporterUtils.java
index 0ee22b362517..882365c6b49e 100644
--- a/google-cloud-bigtable/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/bigtable/data/v2/stub/metrics/BigtableExporterUtils.java
+++ b/google-cloud-bigtable/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/bigtable/data/v2/stub/metrics/BigtableExporterUtils.java
@@ -54,6 +54,7 @@
 import com.google.monitoring.v3.TimeInterval;
 import com.google.monitoring.v3.TimeSeries;
 import com.google.monitoring.v3.TypedValue;
+import com.google.protobuf.Timestamp;
 import com.google.protobuf.util.Timestamps;
 import io.opentelemetry.api.common.AttributeKey;
 import io.opentelemetry.api.common.Attributes;
@@ -281,11 +282,19 @@ private static TimeSeries convertPointToBigtableTimeSeries(
     metricBuilder.putLabels(CLIENT_UID_KEY.getKey(), taskId);
     builder.setMetric(metricBuilder.build());
 
+    MetricKind kind = convertMetricKind(metricData);
+
+    Timestamp endTimestamp = Timestamps.fromNanos(pointData.getEpochNanos());
+    Timestamp startTimestamp;
+
+    if (kind == GAUGE) {
+      // GAUGE metrics must have start_time equal to end_time.
+      startTimestamp = endTimestamp;
+    } else {
+      startTimestamp = Timestamps.fromNanos(pointData.getStartEpochNanos());
+    }
     TimeInterval timeInterval =
-        TimeInterval.newBuilder()
-            .setStartTime(Timestamps.fromNanos(pointData.getStartEpochNanos()))
-            .setEndTime(Timestamps.fromNanos(pointData.getEpochNanos()))
-            .build();
+        TimeInterval.newBuilder().setStartTime(startTimestamp).setEndTime(endTimestamp).build();
 
     builder.addPoints(createPoint(metricData.getType(), pointData, timeInterval));
 
@@ -294,9 +303,10 @@ private static TimeSeries convertPointToBigtableTimeSeries(
 
   private static Optional<TimeSeries> createInternalMetricsTimeSeries(
       MetricData metricData, PointData pointData, MonitoredResource applicationResource) {
+    MetricKind kind = convertMetricKind(metricData);
     TimeSeries.Builder builder =
         TimeSeries.newBuilder()
-            .setMetricKind(convertMetricKind(metricData))
+            .setMetricKind(kind)
             .setValueType(convertValueType(metricData.getType()))
             .setResource(applicationResource);
 
@@ -318,11 +328,15 @@ private static Optional<TimeSeries> createInternalMetricsTimeSeries(
 
     builder.setMetric(metricBuilder.build());
 
+    Timestamp endTimestamp = Timestamps.fromNanos(pointData.getEpochNanos());
+    Timestamp startTimestamp;
+    if (kind == GAUGE) {
+      startTimestamp = endTimestamp;
+    } else {
+      startTimestamp = Timestamps.fromNanos(pointData.getStartEpochNanos());
+    }
     TimeInterval timeInterval =
-        TimeInterval.newBuilder()
-            .setStartTime(Timestamps.fromNanos(pointData.getStartEpochNanos()))
-            .setEndTime(Timestamps.fromNanos(pointData.getEpochNanos()))
-            .build();
+        TimeInterval.newBuilder().setStartTime(startTimestamp).setEndTime(endTimestamp).build();
 
     builder.addPoints(createPoint(metricData.getType(), pointData, timeInterval));
     return Optional.of(builder.build());
diff --git a/grpc-google-cloud-bigtable-admin-v2/pom.xml b/grpc-google-cloud-bigtable-admin-v2/pom.xml
index bb452b01c0e5..651ef983a1a9 100644
--- a/grpc-google-cloud-bigtable-admin-v2/pom.xml
+++ b/grpc-google-cloud-bigtable-admin-v2/pom.xml
@@ -4,13 +4,13 @@
   <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
   <groupId>com.google.api.grpc</groupId>
   <artifactId>grpc-google-cloud-bigtable-admin-v2</artifactId>
-  <version>2.70.0</version><!-- {x-version-update:grpc-google-cloud-bigtable-admin-v2:current} -->
+  <version>2.70.1-rc1-SNAPSHOT</version><!-- {x-version-update:grpc-google-cloud-bigtable-admin-v2:current} -->
   <name>grpc-google-cloud-bigtable-admin-v2</name>
   <description>GRPC library for grpc-google-cloud-bigtable-admin-v2</description>
   <parent>
     <groupId>com.google.cloud</groupId>
     <artifactId>google-cloud-bigtable-parent</artifactId>
-    <version>2.70.0</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-bigtable:current} -->
+    <version>2.70.1-rc1-SNAPSHOT</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-bigtable:current} -->
   </parent>
 
   <dependencyManagement>
@@ -18,14 +18,14 @@
       <dependency>
         <groupId>com.google.cloud</groupId>
         <artifactId>google-cloud-bigtable-deps-bom</artifactId>
-        <version>2.70.0</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-bigtable:current} -->
+        <version>2.70.1-rc1-SNAPSHOT</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-bigtable:current} -->
         <type>pom</type>
         <scope>import</scope>
       </dependency>
       <dependency>
         <groupId>com.google.cloud</groupId>
         <artifactId>google-cloud-bigtable-bom</artifactId>
-        <version>2.70.0</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-bigtable:current} -->
+        <version>2.70.1-rc1-SNAPSHOT</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-bigtable:current} -->
         <type>pom</type>
         <scope>import</scope>
       </dependency>
diff --git a/grpc-google-cloud-bigtable-v2/pom.xml b/grpc-google-cloud-bigtable-v2/pom.xml
index b78d5e5ea309..a420e9e4157d 100644
--- a/grpc-google-cloud-bigtable-v2/pom.xml
+++ b/grpc-google-cloud-bigtable-v2/pom.xml
@@ -4,13 +4,13 @@
   <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
   <groupId>com.google.api.grpc</groupId>
   <artifactId>grpc-google-cloud-bigtable-v2</artifactId>
-  <version>2.70.0</version><!-- {x-version-update:grpc-google-cloud-bigtable-v2:current} -->
+  <version>2.70.1-rc1-SNAPSHOT</version><!-- {x-version-update:grpc-google-cloud-bigtable-v2:current} -->
   <name>grpc-google-cloud-bigtable-v2</name>
   <description>GRPC library for grpc-google-cloud-bigtable-v2</description>
   <parent>
     <groupId>com.google.cloud</groupId>
     <artifactId>google-cloud-bigtable-parent</artifactId>
-    <version>2.70.0</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-bigtable:current} -->
+    <version>2.70.1-rc1-SNAPSHOT</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-bigtable:current} -->
   </parent>
 
   <dependencyManagement>
@@ -18,14 +18,14 @@
       <dependency>
         <groupId>com.google.cloud</groupId>
         <artifactId>google-cloud-bigtable-deps-bom</artifactId>
-        <version>2.70.0</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-bigtable:current} -->
+        <version>2.70.1-rc1-SNAPSHOT</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-bigtable:current} -->
         <type>pom</type>
         <scope>import</scope>
       </dependency>
       <dependency>
         <groupId>com.google.cloud</groupId>
         <artifactId>google-cloud-bigtable-bom</artifactId>
-        <version>2.70.0</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-bigtable:current} -->
+        <version>2.70.1-rc1-SNAPSHOT</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-bigtable:current} -->
         <type>pom</type>
         <scope>import</scope>
       </dependency>
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 3fcd706262cc..b58790ebbbd9 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 
     <artifactId>google-cloud-bigtable-parent</artifactId>
     <packaging>pom</packaging>
-    <version>2.70.0</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-bigtable:current} -->
+    <version>2.70.1-rc1-SNAPSHOT</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-bigtable:current} -->
     <name>Google Cloud Bigtable Parent</name>
     <url>https://github.com/googleapis/java-bigtable</url>
     <description>
@@ -156,27 +156,27 @@
             <dependency>
                 <groupId>com.google.api.grpc</groupId>
                 <artifactId>proto-google-cloud-bigtable-v2</artifactId>
-                <version>2.70.0</version><!-- {x-version-update:proto-google-cloud-bigtable-v2:current} -->
+                <version>2.70.1-rc1-SNAPSHOT</version><!-- {x-version-update:proto-google-cloud-bigtable-v2:current} -->
             </dependency>
             <dependency>
                 <groupId>com.google.api.grpc</groupId>
                 <artifactId>proto-google-cloud-bigtable-admin-v2</artifactId>
-                <version>2.70.0</version><!-- {x-version-update:proto-google-cloud-bigtable-admin-v2:current} -->
+                <version>2.70.1-rc1-SNAPSHOT</version><!-- {x-version-update:proto-google-cloud-bigtable-admin-v2:current} -->
             </dependency>
             <dependency>
                 <groupId>com.google.api.grpc</groupId>
                 <artifactId>grpc-google-cloud-bigtable-v2</artifactId>
-                <version>2.70.0</version><!-- {x-version-update:grpc-google-cloud-bigtable-v2:current} -->
+                <version>2.70.1-rc1-SNAPSHOT</version><!-- {x-version-update:grpc-google-cloud-bigtable-v2:current} -->
             </dependency>
             <dependency>
                 <groupId>com.google.api.grpc</groupId>
                 <artifactId>grpc-google-cloud-bigtable-admin-v2</artifactId>
-                <version>2.70.0</version><!-- {x-version-update:grpc-google-cloud-bigtable-admin-v2:current} -->
+                <version>2.70.1-rc1-SNAPSHOT</version><!-- {x-version-update:grpc-google-cloud-bigtable-admin-v2:current} -->
             </dependency>
             <dependency>
                 <groupId>com.google.cloud</groupId>
                 <artifactId>google-cloud-bigtable</artifactId>
-                <version>2.70.0</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-bigtable:current} -->
+                <version>2.70.1-rc1-SNAPSHOT</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-bigtable:current} -->
             </dependency>
             <!-- Test Deps in alphabetical order -->
             <dependency>
diff --git a/proto-google-cloud-bigtable-admin-v2/pom.xml b/proto-google-cloud-bigtable-admin-v2/pom.xml
index fa309c627bf0..57d572b72c16 100644
--- a/proto-google-cloud-bigtable-admin-v2/pom.xml
+++ b/proto-google-cloud-bigtable-admin-v2/pom.xml
@@ -4,13 +4,13 @@
   <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
   <groupId>com.google.api.grpc</groupId>
   <artifactId>proto-google-cloud-bigtable-admin-v2</artifactId>
-  <version>2.70.0</version><!-- {x-version-update:proto-google-cloud-bigtable-admin-v2:current} -->
+  <version>2.70.1-rc1-SNAPSHOT</version><!-- {x-version-update:proto-google-cloud-bigtable-admin-v2:current} -->
   <name>proto-google-cloud-bigtable-admin-v2</name>
   <description>PROTO library for proto-google-cloud-bigtable-admin-v2</description>
   <parent>
     <groupId>com.google.cloud</groupId>
     <artifactId>google-cloud-bigtable-parent</artifactId>
-    <version>2.70.0</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-bigtable:current} -->
+    <version>2.70.1-rc1-SNAPSHOT</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-bigtable:current} -->
   </parent>
 
   <dependencyManagement>
@@ -18,14 +18,14 @@
       <dependency>
         <groupId>com.google.cloud</groupId>
         <artifactId>google-cloud-bigtable-deps-bom</artifactId>
-        <version>2.70.0</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-bigtable:current} -->
+        <version>2.70.1-rc1-SNAPSHOT</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-bigtable:current} -->
         <type>pom</type>
         <scope>import</scope>
       </dependency>
       <dependency>
         <groupId>com.google.cloud</groupId>
         <artifactId>google-cloud-bigtable-bom</artifactId>
-        <version>2.70.0</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-bigtable:current} -->
+        <version>2.70.1-rc1-SNAPSHOT</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-bigtable:current} -->
         <type>pom</type>
         <scope>import</scope>
       </dependency>
diff --git a/proto-google-cloud-bigtable-v2/pom.xml b/proto-google-cloud-bigtable-v2/pom.xml
index 1e747d0995ec..d6e708133f70 100644
--- a/proto-google-cloud-bigtable-v2/pom.xml
+++ b/proto-google-cloud-bigtable-v2/pom.xml
@@ -4,13 +4,13 @@
   <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
   <groupId>com.google.api.grpc</groupId>
   <artifactId>proto-google-cloud-bigtable-v2</artifactId>
-  <version>2.70.0</version><!-- {x-version-update:proto-google-cloud-bigtable-v2:current} -->
+  <version>2.70.1-rc1-SNAPSHOT</version><!-- {x-version-update:proto-google-cloud-bigtable-v2:current} -->
   <name>proto-google-cloud-bigtable-v2</name>
   <description>PROTO library for proto-google-cloud-bigtable-v2</description>
   <parent>
     <groupId>com.google.cloud</groupId>
     <artifactId>google-cloud-bigtable-parent</artifactId>
-    <version>2.70.0</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-bigtable:current} -->
+    <version>2.70.1-rc1-SNAPSHOT</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-bigtable:current} -->
   </parent>
 
   <dependencyManagement>
@@ -18,14 +18,14 @@
       <dependency>
         <groupId>com.google.cloud</groupId>
         <artifactId>google-cloud-bigtable-deps-bom</artifactId>
-        <version>2.70.0</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-bigtable:current} -->
+        <version>2.70.1-rc1-SNAPSHOT</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-bigtable:current} -->
         <type>pom</type>
         <scope>import</scope>
       </dependency>
       <dependency>
         <groupId>com.google.cloud</groupId>
         <artifactId>google-cloud-bigtable-bom</artifactId>
-        <version>2.70.0</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-bigtable:current} -->
+        <version>2.70.1-rc1-SNAPSHOT</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-bigtable:current} -->
         <type>pom</type>
         <scope>import</scope>
       </dependency>
diff --git a/release-please-config.json b/release-please-config.json
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..922ceb200af4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/release-please-config.json
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+{
+  "release-type": "java-yoshi",
+  "prerelease-type": "rc1",
+  "versioning": "prerelease",
+  "separate-pull-requests": false,
+  "include-component-in-tag": false,
+  "group-pull-request-title-pattern": "chore(${branch}): release ${version}",
+  "packages": {
+    ".": {
+      "extra-files": [
+        "google-cloud-bigtable/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/bigtable/Version.java"
+      ]
+    }
+  }
+,
+  "prerelease": true
+}
diff --git a/samples/snapshot/pom.xml b/samples/snapshot/pom.xml
index 67a4886439ec..120e35ac2062 100644
--- a/samples/snapshot/pom.xml
+++ b/samples/snapshot/pom.xml
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@
     <dependency>
       <groupId>com.google.cloud</groupId>
       <artifactId>google-cloud-bigtable</artifactId>
-      <version>2.70.0</version>
+      <version>2.70.1-rc1-SNAPSHOT</version>
     </dependency>
   <!-- {x-version-update-end} -->
 
diff --git a/test-proxy/pom.xml b/test-proxy/pom.xml
index 41c9934ee399..54065715ba68 100644
--- a/test-proxy/pom.xml
+++ b/test-proxy/pom.xml
@@ -12,11 +12,11 @@
   <parent>
     <artifactId>google-cloud-bigtable-parent</artifactId>
     <groupId>com.google.cloud</groupId>
-    <version>2.70.0</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-bigtable:current} -->
+    <version>2.70.1-rc1-SNAPSHOT</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-bigtable:current} -->
   </parent>
 
   <properties>
-    <bigtable.client.version>2.70.0</bigtable.client.version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-bigtable:current} -->
+    <bigtable.client.version>2.70.1-rc1-SNAPSHOT</bigtable.client.version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-bigtable:current} -->
   </properties>
 
   <dependencyManagement>
diff --git a/versions.txt b/versions.txt
index 6504a5541444..b94043d674be 100644
--- a/versions.txt
+++ b/versions.txt
@@ -1,10 +1,10 @@
 # Format:
 # module:released-version:current-version
 
-google-cloud-bigtable:2.70.0:2.70.0
-grpc-google-cloud-bigtable-admin-v2:2.70.0:2.70.0
-grpc-google-cloud-bigtable-v2:2.70.0:2.70.0
-proto-google-cloud-bigtable-admin-v2:2.70.0:2.70.0
-proto-google-cloud-bigtable-v2:2.70.0:2.70.0
-google-cloud-bigtable-emulator:0.207.0:0.207.0
-google-cloud-bigtable-emulator-core:0.207.0:0.207.0
+google-cloud-bigtable:2.70.0:2.70.1-rc1-SNAPSHOT
+grpc-google-cloud-bigtable-admin-v2:2.70.0:2.70.1-rc1-SNAPSHOT
+grpc-google-cloud-bigtable-v2:2.70.0:2.70.1-rc1-SNAPSHOT
+proto-google-cloud-bigtable-admin-v2:2.70.0:2.70.1-rc1-SNAPSHOT
+proto-google-cloud-bigtable-v2:2.70.0:2.70.1-rc1-SNAPSHOT
+google-cloud-bigtable-emulator:0.207.0:0.207.1-rc1-SNAPSHOT
+google-cloud-bigtable-emulator-core:0.207.0:0.207.1-rc1-SNAPSHOT
