People often confuse Public Relations with Marketing, but PR is between a business and the public, a blend of community and press, with (generally) a smaller budget. PR will set you apart by showing you care for and can relate to your community. A good PR person lets press know they are reliable and open.

Journalists like press releases with concise, easy-to-read information with readily-linked assets. They are busy people who are either working two jobs, maintaining a website full-time, and/or trying to push out daily articles and keeping up with global news. Bullet points are preferred format for listing information, and they make longer emails easy to scan.

Research everything. Know what sites you should target based off of their audiences. Know what games a journalist prefers. Figure out what makes your game differ from other games in the same genre. Tailoring your pitches will give you a better chance of being covered or reviewed.
 

On Getting an Agency vs Going Alone

You may or may not have the budget to hire a PR agency. The one benefit of a PR agency will be their media database and established relationships with press. Handling correspondence and relationships alone is a full-time job, but it’s also handy to have a company that can send press releases in bulk without being blocked by spam filters.

You can do PR on your own as long as you handle it with care. It can be very socially intensive. You don’t have to contract an agency as long as you’re willing to put in the extra work required - and you must put effort into your PR. Otherwise, it will reflect poorly on your product and make you look unprofessional as a developer.  It is also worth noting that GamesPress exists, and is a completely free video game-focused press release distribution service.

 

To Do or Not To Do

DO

• Know the product and the competition’s product forward and backward
• Be able to answer questions about the game
• Be polite, but not a doormat
• Localise your releases - yes, this includes UK/US English
• Ensure all information is consistent throughout the release
• Have a bundled media kit in your release or pitch with a clear direct link, or it may be ignored
• Have an angle when you write press - show why they should cover you over global AAA news
   

DON’T

• Pretend to be a person’s friend for reviews or coverage
• Lie to make a product look better
• Put down the competition
• Type in all caps or speak only in jargon in professional emails (informal emails don’t count)
• Expect coverage just because you’ve written a journalist or given them a review copy
• Be rude to press because of a bad review
• Request a certain review score – good or bad, it is enough your product is reviewed

 

Some PR Definitions

Boilerplate: In PR, this is a paragraph of information at the end of a press release that gives a brief description of your company. Outside of PR, it has heaps of uses.
Pitch: In PR, this is a news story, feature, angle or idea that you send to a journalist, editor or content creator to create interest in their audience. They do not have to accept or agree with the pitch.
Feature: A feature article is a long-form written piece that goes into depth on a subject.
Angle: The point or theme of an article. Using the bear theme, you could pitch to journalists with a few angles: how cool bears are, bear diets, local famous bears, and so on.
Earned Media: Articles, reviews or previews your product gets through the relationships you've made.
Owned Media: Content that you've made yourself and host on your site, social, or in printed mediums.
Paid Media: Paid content created by other people. This includes sponsorships and advertising. Reviews are not paid for. Ever. No, not even then. Don’t even think about it.
Exclusive: In PR, this is when only one publication or content creator has the right to publish/reveal an article, story, review, video, or other piece of content first.
Specialist: The video game- or tech-specific press that cover video games. This is your main target.
Mainstream: The press that cover lifestyle, politics, food, etc. This is a bonus, and a struggle. Mainstream media will net you the largest amount of eyes-on than most Specialist media, but getting them to notice you is one of the hardest pitches you’ll ever do.
Content Creator: Anyone who streams, creates videos, writes, or prepares content in a digital fashion for an audience by themselves or in a team for this specific context. (Obvious examples are YouTube, Twitch and Mixer.)

 

What should I be sending people?

Everyone likes to see images, not just journalists. Trailers, screenshots, streams - whatever you can do to show off your game is a good idea. Upload your assets, keep them updated and keep the updates coming. If possible, have a demo. Make your game easy to share. Getting people to play and share your game is sometimes as good or better than a review.

 

How should I be sending it?

There are several different forms of communication in PR, but two are the bread and butter of PR agencies everywhere: The Media Blast and The Press Release.

 

Media Blast

Media Blasts are informal note-drops that give a brief description and are almost always personalised. Send a media blast to press if you have a small update, patch, or just want to remind them there’s an upcoming content drop. While you wouldn’t normally send press a media blast about a new game, this format is more comfortable for many content creators.
 

Media Blast Example:

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3

Quote

Subject: MEDIA BLAST: This Bear Game I Just Created is out, and with a real bear!

Good morning, Sasha!

We wanted to let you and your  community know that we’ve released This Bear Game I Just Created, a twin stick shooter set in an alternate reality where we’re all bears!

• It is being released on Steam, Mac, Android, and PS4 on 12th December 2033.
• It has great graphics, over 268 colours on each bear hair
• At least 16 sounds available for each bear
• The special edition comes with an actual bear

Assets are available here: somewebsite.somecompany.com.lol/assetspackage.zip/

Please let us know if you want a review copy, or need more information on This Game I Just Created; contact us at person@company.com, or on Twitter at @companynamehereiguessorwhatever.

Thanks, and happy shooting!

Leon “You Know It” Fromps
PR Manager @ Company
email@somewebsite.somecompany.com.lol

 

The Press Release

Press Releases are formal emails that can be several paragraphs, include images, contain quotes from notable figures, explain features in-detail and be a much longer format.

 

Press Release Example:

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11

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11

Quote

Subject: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: THIS BEAR GAME I JUST CREATED TO BE RELEASED DECEMBER 2033

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

<gamelogo.jpg>
THIS BEAR GAME I JUST CREATED TO BE RELEASED DECEMBER 2033
Adventures abound in a game about love, loss, and bears.

<city where you are sending the release from>, <date in localised format> - Today the Company has announced that This Bear Game I Just Created will be released on Steam, Mac, Android and PS4 on 12th December 2033. This Bear Game I Just Created is a twin stick shooter set in an alternate reality where bears are the dominant species - they lead lives, they love, they laugh, they cry.

Company CEO Lacey Bearman said, "We're very excited here at Company to finally be bringing out This Bear Game I Just Created. The entire team has worked so hard to get to this point, and I'm just so proud of everyone. I even made bear-shaped cookies. This one is holding a balloon. That’s me. I’m this bear."

<trailerimage.jpg, linked to trailer>
You can find the trailer here: probably.youtube.com/letsbereal

Alongside the release date and platforms, Company announced more details surrounding the game:

• 268 colours will be present on each bear hair
• 16 sounds will be available for each bear
• Sounds will be specific to each bear
• Special edition includes an actual bear
• Bears will have jobs and cute outfits
• A VR mode will be available after launch so you can BE the bear

<specialedition.jpg>
An actual bear!

In a surprise announcement over the weekend, Company announced pre-orders for This Bear Game I Just Created will begin in February 2032. Anyone pre-ordering will be eligible to receive the following:

• A bear pen
• A bear earring
• A bear cookie made by Lacey Bearman
• An in-game skateboard with rad bear graphics
• Early access to This Bear Game I Just Created
• A sweet bear-themed forum badge on Company’s forums

<screenshot.jpg>
Here you can see a bear buying ice cream for a cub, while another bear is building a sand castle.

For more information on This Bear Game I Just Created, you can follow the Company on Twitter at @companynamehereiguessorwhatever or visit somewebsite.somecompany.com.lol.

More assets are available at: somewebsite.somecompany.com.lol/assetspackage.zip/

About Company

Company, Pty Ltd develops and licenses bear-related video games in all earthly territories and some interstellar communities. Company, Pty Ltd also has a universal network of video game studios such as Fight That Monster, Banana Change, Red Left Foot, and Squashbum. The Company group has released several games, including: Bare Knees®, Lunch Quest®, Graveyard Bob®, 15-Foot Amoeba®, and the classic adventure game Honk Honk Beep Beep®. Company, Pty Ltd is a reality-based company, very real indeed. Find out more on Company's website at www.totallyarealcompanyforseriousnotjoking.com.

###

Press Contact:
Leon Mertle Fromps
PR Manager @ Company
email@somewebsite.somecompany.com.lol

 

Cheers!

If you have simple PR questions, I’m happy to answer them on Twitter @feztivus. If you need ongoing PR support, contact me and we can work out rates.

 

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Felicia McEntire makes tabletop games and video games in her spare time. Her most recent project is a tabletop RPG called Breakaway (http://breakaway.pub).  You can follow Felicia on Twitter @feztivus, or check out her current employer Reboot Communications.

 

Note: This article was originally published as a Google Doc via Felicia's Twitter account @feztivus, and is reproduced here with Felicia's kind permission.