Indie Game Press Kit: Master The Basics

Of the many promotional tools in an indie developer’s arsenal, press kits are definitely one of the most popular.

Despite the name, they aren’t only useful when dealing directly with the press. In fact, the contrary!

A solid press kit will work both as a readily available collection of assets and a handy way to quickly showcase your game in its entirety.

Because of their frontline role in your marketing strategy, putting together a press kit can be a challenge – especially for first-time developers.

To help you tackle this daunting task, here are some tips to level up your press kit skills and create the perfect kit for your next game!

1. 🔨 Nail The Basics

Before you can even begin, it’s important you understand what and who a press kit will be for.

While it might share some components with your game’s website or studio’s media archive, it’s important to realize it is neither. Instead, you should try to envision it as a quick reference guide that press/media and content creators will look at while covering your game.

For that reason, there’s a number of elements that no press kit can do without.

• Your game and studio’s logos
• A brief description of the project
• A collection of screenshots and trailers
• Links to your social media

These – just to list a few – should be the first things you add in.

2. 😌 Keep Things Simple

As you are creating your press kit, populating it full of images, it’s easy to lose track of it’s size.

While most of us consume several gigabytes worth of data every day, this can become a problem if someone is trying to download your kit – especially if they’re in a hurry or don’t have access to high-speed internet.

There’s no one-size-fits-all kind of approach to it, but a good rule of thumb is that your text and descriptions should all fit in a single page document.

Likewise, you should try to limit the number of screenshots and graphics (choose your best ones), and always link to – rather than directly embed – your trailer when possible.

Ideally, the contents of your press kit should be split into navigable sections, making sure everything is easy to find, index and download/share.

3. 🎥 Think of Content Creators

With YouTubers, Twitch streamers, and other content creators playing a bigger role in the games industry than ever, many of them will check out your press kit at some point. And while the job of a creator and that of media outlets might sound somewhat similar, the needs of the two tend to be quite different.

Luckily, it only takes a few tweaks to make your press kit a lot more content creator-friendly.

A collection of screenshots without the game’s UI and a high-res version of your game’s logo, for example, let people create their own thumbnails.

Similarly, adding a separate document with a brief recap of the game’s main objective and controls, as well as color palette references and a number of thumbnail templates is a great way to show them you care.

4. 🔎 Make It Easy To Find

This one might sound obvious and yet remains one of the most common mistakes among indie developers.

Regardless of the time, care, and effort you put in, your press kit is only really as effective as how easily people can get to it.

While your instincts might tell you to keep it under wraps and only share it with a select few, doing so risks limiting your game’s visibility.

Instead, make sure to add a link to the kit in your social media bios, email signatures, and any other place where press and influencers might see it!

5. ⏭ Use it to Bridge Gaps

Finally, press kits aren’t only useful as a way to showcase your title, but also as a bridge connecting to other assets, pages, and resources.

Once you’re done putting together the images, logos, and text that make up the bulk of your kit, don’t forget to think about where the visitors will go next!

The idea here is that, if they can’t find something in the press kit, your visitors should at least have a way to get it.

Adding an email address, and a link to request keys or to your social media channels will make sure people can reach out, ask questions, and start a conversation. 🙌

Conclusion

As we’ve seen, a Press Kit has a lot of moving parts and might require more work to perfect. The good news is that, a press kit is a living document!

If you’ve added a new environment to your game, or created some new GIFs? You can – and should – always go back to it and update it as your project develops! Nice and easy.

We’ll be looking at more advanced Press Kit topics in future blogs, so sign up for a free account to join our newsletter!

You’ll also get access to Coverage Bot, Steam Revenue Calculator, and our upcoming Free Press Kit Service! (Ooooh! Incredible value!)

- Alessandro