r/gamedev • u/WingedMoth • 5h ago

Reaching out to Press before Announcement Question

I’ve set up a Steam page for my indie game, complete with a trailer, screenshots, and other materials, but nothing is public yet. I’ve read that you should start reaching out to press about a month before announcing, asking if they’d be interested in mentioning the games announcement. I’d love to hear any experiences with this process.

  1. Private Assets for the Press: Since the game’s presence is private before launch, how do you handle sharing materials like the trailer, screenshots, or a press kit? Should I make specific parts available via unlisted links? How do you balance giving them enough information while keeping control over what's public?
  2. Targeting the Right Press: When we talk about reaching out to the press, are we mainly focusing on smaller sites that specialize in indie games? For example, scrolling through eg. IGN’s news feed, it seems like indie games rarely get mentioned unless they already have a cult following. Is it worth even trying to contact larger sites, or should I focus entirely on smaller ones. I do sometimes see IGN post trailers to indie games on their Youtube, but I imagine those devs pay them for that?
  3. Press Releases: Should I put out a press release for the announcement? If so, does this just mean emailing platforms like gamespress.com with the announcement details, or is there more to it?

Any tips, suggestions, or experiences with this process would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

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u/DryginStudios 4h ago

  1. You don't warmup press for announcement usually. Yes for full release when you send demo copies but for announcement usually you don't embargo. For an announcement, assume the moment you send the press release IT IS PUBLIC. Yes you need a MediaKit, people don't want to have to go and steal screenshot from your Steam page etc...

  2. Send to as many as possible; getting coverage is a numbers game. Once you game copies to send then yes start to filter and craft personalized message.

  3. Yes and Yes.

Getting traction for an announcement is tied to your trailer mainly; try to to make it good.

Everybody uses GamesPress but then if you hire a PR firm they will also have their own mailing list.