Currently “PR” is the weapon of choice with regards to companies getting information about their games online. This entails a series of press releases and interviews appearing on the biggest gaming websites which then filter down through the smaller sites and eventually into the communities.
This practice is only a slight evolution of the old PR model used when print was king. The aim was getting column inches in the biggest newspapers and magazines and bagging the much sought after magazine cover. PR stands for Public Relations but most of this sounds like Media Relations to me.
This old school way of doing things is fine in the most part. A lot of gaming enthusiasts visit these sites so it makes sense to target them first. If you do get a story on there the site’s influence and advocacy will add kudos to your brand’s reputation.
That is if you even manage to get your story onto those sites in any meaningful way. Ad-funded sites need as much web traffic as possible so your news story could be old news within minutes.
Old school PR doesn’t reach those gamers not on these websites, the mums buying Wii Fit, the kids pining for a Ben Ten game and it’s hard to imagine all of those Call of Duty sales exactly matching the web traffic of Gamespot and IGN. Finally this top down message is all one way traffic. How often do you see game companies commenting on their own news stories with more insight, correcting misinformation or just answering questions from the community.
Another Way?
Just because you are making a game does not mean IGN or Gamespot are your best bet for reaching the widest audience. Really work out what your game is about and who would like it, different communities have different common interests.
Try looking at smaller games communities with niche interests that match your product, look further afield at communities that aren’t all about videogames. You may find that Mumsnet is a better place to get information for your new fitness game to reach its target audience than any games website.
In all honesty that bit of the job is the easy part, making your PR actual relations with the public requires more time and care. Make the information relevant to them and actually talk about what it is you are trying to sell. When someone asks a question go answer it. Show that you care about your audience and build your online reputation.
Having conversations with the right people and communities is much more important than a one way message to be disseminated from on high. Use all the social media tools (forums, blogs, Twitter, Facebook etc) to have real interactions with the people that matter most – your customers!
