What's a press kit supposed to contain?

The short answer: a press kit is everything a journalist, streamer or curator needs to write about your game without having to email you first. Facts, a few good words, the images and a way to reach you, all on one page they can bookmark. If someone can write a paragraph about your game in five minutes from that page, it is doing its job.

1. The facts, in one place

A short fact sheet, near the top:

• the game’s name, and the developer or studio;
• the release date, or “in development” and the stage;
• platforms and the price, or “free”;
• the genre and the number of players;
• your website, your store page links and your social links;
• where to play it, if there is a demo or a playable build.

2. Descriptions in three lengths

People paste these straight into articles, so write them yourself:

• One line, around 15 words, that says what the game is;
• A short description, a paragraph;
• A long description, a few paragraphs, including what makes it different.

3. Key features

A short list of what the game is and does, written as plain facts rather than slogans.

4. Images people can actually use

• Screenshots at full size, a handful, clean and varied, showing real gameplay.
• Key art and a logo with a transparent background, plus a small icon.
• GIFs or short clips if the game moves in a way a still does not capture.

Offer them as downloads, ideally a zip of everything. Do not make people right-click and hope for a good size.

5. The trailer

A link to the trailer on a video site and, if you can, a downloadable version. Put it near the top of the page, because it is often the thing people use first.

6. Credits

Who made it, with the roles. Keep it accurate and short.

7. Quotes and awards

Only if they are real, dated and you can link to them. Leave this section out until you have one. Nothing weakens a kit like a quote nobody can find.

8. How to reach you

One working email address that you check, ideally one made for the game rather than your personal inbox. Add how to request a review copy or key and roughly how quickly you reply.

What to leave out

• Marketing waffle and superlatives (“the most innovative…”). Facts travel further.
• Placeholder text, “coming soon” sections and broken downloads.
• Huge file sizes with no thumbnails.
• Anything out of date. A kit that mentions last year’s release date puts people off.

Make it one address

Put it all on a single page, on your own site, at an address like /press/, and keep it updated. A free, open-source format called presskit() by Rami Ismail is a good model if you want a starting point. For a real example, here is the press page for The Last Lighthouse, which I built.

What to do next

If you would like a press page on a site you own, as part of a small game website, send me a short message and I will tell you what I would put on it. The service is described on the indie game websites page.