The Key to Great Video Game PR

When I came on board with GamesReviews I was a nobody. I had just finished my Master’s Degree at the University of Windsor in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. I was back at my dad’s diesel shop working on trucks and tractors. This was just suppose to be a causal writing hobby job to keep me sharp as I looked for something more in my field. That was in January of 2014. It’s been over two years, and so many things have changed, all thanks to some great Video Game PR.

When I started I had about 35 twitter followers and bought every game I reviewed. Outside of a few indies that came too me from the then site manager, I did not get a whole lot. And I never complained. Things changed over time. I began connecting with big PR companies in Toronto Ontario – Cohn and Wolfe who represent Nintendo, Veritas who represents Microsoft, and a number of other companies, one of which was Warner Bros. Things continued to develop as I got hooked up with Evolve PR in Victoria, British Columbia, soon after which I was added to an online media networking system. Contacts were shared with me by generous, small time media. I was soon connecting with Performance Design Products in California, Steel Series in Chicago, and Sandbox Strategies PR in New York City.

I know receive lots for review, have brought on more review staff, and continue to build solid relationships that last. Games reviews is not “off the map” small; we do rank on Alexa even. But we are not those go-to, large sites. We do well, and are improving as we have more staff, more articles, and more press coverage.

Respect for the Little Guy

The one thing all the aforementioned companies have is respect for a medium size review platform who does great work. We adhere to embargos, we are open and up front with our reviews, and score games based on merit, not on whether we bought them ourselves or not. We respond when asked questions, we follow up with links to our work, and I want to think we are enjoyable to work with. Time and money permitting, we also attempt to make it to video games trades shows when possible, to launch events, post E3 events, and more. We make the effort, and I think they respect that.

Some companies do not.

Doing good PR is not measured by the number of ‘free’ games I get, or the number of events I get invited to. I know great PR that has never sent me anything of actual value. It’s all about respect. Respect an outlet enough to reply to an email. Respect and outlet enough to pass on assets, or to direct them to an online asset source. Think this way: would I ever make IGN wait a few days for a response? No, and while obviously I expect IGN to get preference, I don’t think I should expect being ignored.