Marketing can’t be an afterthought when it comes to launching a new game successfully. If you want your game to make any kind of splash once it hits digital storefronts, you need a promotional plan long before it goes live. Pre-launch and launch marketing are crucial for giving your game the momentum it will need right out of the gate.
It’s easy for a game developer to get lost in production and assume the quality of your game will speak for itself. But if we are honest, platform stores are becoming oversaturated, attention spans are short, and even the best games fade fast without some launch fanfare.
The good news? Pre-launch marketing isn’t as complicated or expensive as you might think. You can leverage many tactics in those critical few months leading up to release. Put in a little effort now, and you’ll reap significant rewards down the road.
Start Building Your Audience 6 Months Out
Ideally, you want to start making some marketing noise at least six months before your game is scheduled to launch. This gives you enough time to start building meaningful buzz and an invested audience base. There are five main pre-launch marketing channels that we recommend focusing your efforts on:
1. Send Out a Press Release
One of the first pre-launch marketing tactics you should leverage is submitting an official press release to gaming newswire services like GamingWire. This is effective for several reasons:
- Press releases achieve broad audience reach – GamingWire distributes your announcement to hundreds of outlets, helping get your game in front of millions of gamers worldwide.
- They establish authority and trust. Earning press coverage signals to players and influencers that your game is legitimate and high-quality before launch.
- Guaranteed distribution with measurable results – GamingWire has direct partnerships with all their publishers, so your release is guaranteed homepage placement on every site. You can then track campaign performance with detailed coverage reports.
- Position future outreach success – Positive press coverage early on makes it much easier to earn additional stories later. Reporters see previous pickups as social proof.
Make sure your release includes key details like launch platforms/dates, features, videos/screenshots, and what makes your game stand out. This will plant the seed for launch hype!
2. Create Social Media Profiles
Every game needs a social media presence these days – at the bare minimum, create profiles for your game on Twitter and Facebook. These platforms allow you to give fans real-time updates on your development progress, showcase art/videos/gifs, and interact with potential players.
Ensure you leverage relevant hashtags so people can easily find your game profiles. Include your handle and official game hashtag in the signature of your social accounts, too so you can cross-promote.
Other great optional platforms are Instagram (for visual content), TikTok (short video clips that can go viral), and Discord (for directly engaging a community).
3. Launch a Website
Having a dedicated website for your game serves a few important purposes:
- It’s a hub for all your external links and social profiles so fans can easily explore
- You control the narrative and messaging
- Players can sign up for email updates and mailing lists
- Influencers/press can easily find key info about your game in one place
Your site doesn’t need to be fancy—just well-branded, professional-looking, and informative. Some key pages to include are About, Screenshots/Videos, Sign Up for Updates, Press Kit, Contact, and Social Media Links. Consider open-source theme builders like Webflow.
4. Create Dev Blog/Videos
Giving fans a peek behind the curtain as you build your game feeds hype and perceived value. Share design documents, concept art, works in progress, or efficacy reports. Blog posts and videos are an authentic way to showcase your game development journey.
Short-form content is currently working particularly well on sites like TikTok and YouTube Shorts. Upload clips showing coding breakthroughs, art time-lapses, animation previews, new mechanics, and anything else highlighting your progress. Longer-written dev logs provide more context and depth for intensely interested fans. Include these on your game site or Medium.
5. Release a Demo
One of the most effective ways to generate buzz is by releasing a limited demo six or so months before your launch. This whets players’ appetite and motivates them to list your game for purchase down the road.
Take a small vertical slice of your game that captures the overall tone and gameplay. Distribute it for free on game platform stores and your site. Clearly, this is a work in progress with limited scope and content.
Use access to your demo as Kickstarter-esque rewards for supporters. Offer it to anyone who signs up for email updates or follows you on 2+ social channels, for example. Limited access builds demand.
Amp Up Marketing in the Final 2 Months
Once your launch date is within eight weeks, it’s time to double down on hype-building. Maintain your ongoing social media and blogging efforts while adding new high-impact strategies.
6. Reach Out to Influencers
Don’t wait until the last minute to contact industry influencers and streamers. Send them professionally crafted emails pitching exclusive demo access at least 2 months before launch.
Highlight unique and compelling aspects of your game experience that align with their interests and audience. Follow up with access keys and politely ask if they consider covering your game around the release.
The more reputable channels that feature your game at launch, the better chance of gaining traction. So cast a wide net – small to medium-sized creators are often more responsive than huge names.
7. Build a Launch Wishlist
Every major digital platform has some version of a wishlist system. This allows users to flag games they’re interested in and get notified when they launch.
There’s no better metric for predicting how your game might sell at launch than wishlist numbers. So, make it a priority to start accumulating followers and wishlists months ahead across all the platforms you plan to launch.
Email everyone signed up for updates with wishlisting info/links. Prominently showcase wishlisting CTAs on your site and all social promotions. Set a realistic goal and track it publicly to motivate momentum.
8. Define Key Influencer Partnerships
Identify 5-10 influencer creators who seem genuinely enthusiastic about your game after demo access. Reach back out one month before launch to gauge their interest in playing/streaming your game release in exchange for compensation.
Be transparent about your marketing budget constraints, but offer to compensate them for their time and talent. Free keys, affiliate sales links, bonuses upon benchmarks, and even revenue share arrangements are all fair game.
Having even two or three confirmed influencer partners streaming your launch day/week makes a massive difference in exposure, wishlists, and those critical opening-week sales.
Stick the Landing with Strong Launch Support
All your pre-launch marketing efforts build towards an important crescendo – launch day! This short window of time often determines the entire success trajectory of your game, so you need to be sure you capitalize on the momentum leading up to release. Here are some launch week best practices to support a strong opening:
9. Line Up Coordinated Influencer Streams
Remember those influencer partners you recruited? Work with them to coordinate streams and video coverage concentrated in the first one to two weeks post launch. Supply them with custom assets, additional keys for giveaways, secret promo codes for viewers, etc.
When possible, avoid overlapping coverage and instead have consecutive days of sponsored spotlight—several smaller creators tendering content over the launch week net more views than everyone overlapping on day one.
10. Fulfill Press Review Code Requests
Major gaming publications often request early review copies to publish scored reviews by launch day. Be sure to distribute codes a few weeks out to outlets you think could provide a meaningful rating.
While you can’t guarantee positive coverage, getting your game in front of critics expands awareness. Just launching with 4-5 reviews signals quality and boosts perceived value – even if ratings are mixed.
Final Word
Launching any passion project into the world feels scary, but games have the added complexity of significant technical and marketing hurdles. Hopefully, walking through this pre-launch checklist will give you more confidence in your readiness. Lay the groundwork early, build genuine hype in your niche, engage influencers as partners, and stick to the landing with coordinated support.
Do that, and your game has a much better chance of coming out the gates strong on release day… which makes all those long nights of bug squashing worth it!