Everyone can do PR The 5 Pillars & pitfalls of indie games PR Thomas Reisenegger @Olima PR Executive & Consultant ICO Partners ~3050 games ~164,000 games in 2015 submitted in 2015 8 GAMES A DAY AROUND 450 GAMES A DAY PocketGamer.biz @Olima 2 How to still make it? 1 VERY GOOD 2 GAME @Olima 3 Indie games PR 1 5 t h i n g s yo u n e e d t o g e t r i g h t 2 5 c o m m o n p i t f a l l s 3 5 future trends @Olima 4 Thomas Reisenegger ● Currently - German PR Executive ICO Partners, Brighton UK League of Legends, SMITE, Endless Legend, 2Dark, Armello, Dungeon of the Endless, Fragments of Him ● consol.AT / consolPlus 7 years as a freelance video game journalist ● Austrian Award „PR Panther“ in Youngster Category Launch PR campaign for iOS/Android game Diskobolos @Olima 5 Have your basics covered first WEBSITE PRESSKIT SOCIAL MEDIA PRESS RELEASE MAILING LIST For more details on those basics: @olima GDC EU 2015 Vault @Olima 6 Indie games PR 1 5 t h i n g s yo u n e e d t o g e t r i g h t 2 5 c o m m o n p i t f a l l s 3 5 future trends @Olima 7 One message One art work 1.POSITIONING You can‘t score without a goal Sell a story, not a game Hey, listen & adapt @Olima 8 In war, not everyone is a soldier @Olima 9 Brave weird title for a hardcore audience Art is clear Metroid reference @Olima 10 @Olima 11 2. NEWS BEATS Manage your PR ammunition wisely @Olima 12 Must have news beats ● Game announcement ● First screenshots ● First trailer ● Beta start / preview possibilities (even if press only) ● Release date announcement ● Release announcement (+ launch trailer) @Olima 13 What month to communicate news beats? GAMES MEDIA ARTICLES PER MONTH @Olima 14 What day to communicate news beats? GAMES MEDIA ARTICLES PER DAY @Olima 15 What time to communicate news beats? ● During business hours (09:00 – 16:00) ● Keep time zones in mind (to cover US and EU media around 06:00 PST / 14:00 GMT is a good time) ● Keep local bank holidays in mind @Olima 16 Youtubers & Streamers ● Your story isn't so important, just give them your game ● Many Youtubers/streamers will cover “classic” games only once ● Try recording your own game ● Mobile games aren't so big with YouTubers ● Watch out for scam @Olima 17 ! Most important PR Beat Credibility 3. Trailer Make your minute in the spotlight count Make first 15 sec count Short and sweet (1:30 min max) @Olima 18 This War of Mine: How to sell atmosphere https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=3fv-iwk9DWc @Olima 19 Super Hot: How to buy credibility https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=3fv-iwk9DWc @Olima 20 4. Guerrilla marketing Low- cost unconventional marketing tactics @Olima 21 Burnout 2 – speeding tickets @Olima 22 Why care about Guerrilla Marketing? ● Extra PR beat ● Reach different target groups ● Possibly small budget ● Untapped field @Olima 23 Risks of Guerrilla Marketing ● Often breaks taboos ● Not always 100% legal ● Not always results in good PR @Olima 24 Crawl @Olima 25 Crawl Gabe Newell @Olima 26 Crawl Gabe Newell NUMBER OF ARTICLES IN EUROPEAN MEDIA 2014 120 100 • EA launch and trailer 80 • News 60 • Previews 40 • Reviews 20 0 COVERAGE AUGUST “GABE NEWELL“ ANNOUNCEMENT APRIL Source: ICO Partners @Olima 27 Crawl Gabe Newell STEAM TRAIN LET‘S PLAY DAILY UNITS SALES 2014 400 UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE 300 200 100 FEB MAR APR MAI JUN Source: Powerhoof @Olima 28 Shooting Stars! – Pirate version Source: ICO Partners @Olima 29 Shooting Stars! – Pirate version 80 70 60 50 40 30 Number of articlesof Number 20 10 0 All other coverage Pirate PR Stunt Source: ICO Partners @Olima 30 Shooting Stars! – Pirate version iOS launch Android launch Pirate PR stunt Units sold Units Source: Bloodirony iOS ANDROID @Olima 31 5. Events don‘t dance at every party @Olima 32 @Olima 33 Indie games PR 1 5 t h i n g s yo u n e e d t o g e t r i g h t 2 5 c o m m o n p i t f a l l s 3 5 future trends @Olima 34 5 Common pitfalls in indie games PR ● Too little, too late ● Playing the indie card ● Poor, technical trailer ● Don‘t re-package enough @Olima 35 5 Common pitfalls in indie games PR REVEAL TEASER REVEAL TRAILER = More than 40,000 extra views and over 60 articles @Olima 36 5 Common pitfalls in indie games PR ● Too little, too late ● Playing the indie card ● Poor, technical trailer ● Don‘t re-package enough ● Push PR (go for pull PR) @Olima 37 Indie games PR 1 5 t h i n g s yo u n e e d t o g e t r i g h t 2 5 c o m m o n p i t f a l l s 3 5 future trends @Olima 38 5 Future trends in indie games PR ● Focus on compact high quality info ● Visual content will be even more important ● PR & Marketing get even closer ● No credibility through platform ● Clever in-game social media sharing @Olima 39 Thanks for your attention @Olima @Olima 40 WWW.ICOMEDIA.EU BRIGHTON UNITED KINGDOM [email protected] +44 (0)20 7193 5158 @Olima 41.