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How to Write a Video Game Press Release Journalists Will Read
A video game press release is a short email that announces one piece of news, such as a reveal, a release date, a launch or a big update. It runs in a fixed order: a headline with the game and the news, a first paragraph that says what is happening and where to buy, two or three short paragraphs of detail, one quote, links to the press kit and trailer, a few lines about the studio and a named contact. Send it as text in the body of the email. Games Press, which publishes releases for the games press, asks developers in so many words not to send PDFs at all. Below: each part with a template, then when to send it.
Only send one when there is news
A press release is for a moment a writer can report, not for a weekly update. The usual moments for an indie game:
- the reveal, on the day your Steam page goes public;
- the release date, once it is fixed;
- a demo, a festival slot or a playtest;
- the launch;
- a large update, a console version or an award.
Ashley Gwinnell, founder of IMPRESS, makes the same point in his guide to indie game press releases: save them for the major beats. The guide dates from January 2023, and the structure below follows it.
The structure, part by part
Subject line and headline
Name the game, the news and the date: “[Game], a two-player co-op platformer, launches on Steam on 6 November”. If the news is under embargo, Games Press asks you to put the embargo date and time in the subject line too.
The first paragraph
Start with a dateline: your city and the date. Then say everything a writer needs for a two-line news item: what the game is, what is happening, when, and where people can wishlist or buy it. If a writer stops reading here, they can still publish.
Two or three short paragraphs
What the player does and what is new since the last announcement, then the hard facts: price, platforms, languages, demo. One idea per paragraph. No adjectives a writer would have to delete before quoting you.
One quote
The IMPRESS guide calls a quote from the studio head or creative director good practice. Make it say something only a person can: why you made the game, or what changed after the demo. “We are thrilled to announce” tells a writer nothing they can use.
Media and assets
Link the press kit, the trailer, the screenshots and the Steam page, and say how a writer gets a key. One link to a complete press kit does most of this; our guide on what a press kit needs lists what should be on it.
About the studio and a contact
Two or three sentences on who you are. The IMPRESS guide puts the limit at a couple of sentences. Then a named person and an email address that someone reads every day.
A press release you can fill in
Subject: [Game] launches on Steam on [date] | Embargo: [date, time, time zone] if any
[CITY], [date]: [Studio] today announced that [Game], a [genre] where you [what the player does], launches on Steam on [date] for [price]. A demo is available now.
[One paragraph on how it plays.] [One paragraph on what is new: content, languages, platforms.]
“[One sentence only you could say],” said [name], [role] at [Studio].
Press kit, trailer and keys: [link]. Steam: [link].
About [Studio]: [two sentences]. Contact: [name], [email].
Plain text, Word or PDF?
Plain text. The Games Press submission page says a Word document or a plain text file is best, or simply text in the body of the email, and adds: “Please DON’T send press releases as PDFs”. The reason it gives: PDFs are hard for its team to copy and paste from. Every writer who quotes your release copies from it the same way.
The same page asks for images as attachments rather than pasted into the text, with download links for larger files and press kits. When you write to a journalist directly, go one step further and send no attachments at all: the text in the email, and one link to the press kit where every image and the trailer can be downloaded.
When to send it
One launch, four releases
- The reveal: the day your Coming Soon page goes public. Valve’s Coming Soon documentation says to publish that page as soon as you are ready to talk about the game publicly, and requires it to be up for at least two weeks before a new game releases.
- The release date: as soon as the date is final, not while it might still move.
- Review copies: the IMPRESS guide suggests sending them at least two to three weeks before release, with an embargoed release that tells writers when they may publish.
- The launch: the hour the game goes on sale, so every link in the release works when it lands.
If you set an embargo, state the date, the time and the time zone. Games Press asks for it in the subject line and in bold red text at the top of the release, so nobody can miss it. A couple of days after the embargo lifts, a short follow-up to the writers who received a copy is fair, as the IMPRESS guide notes.
Sending it without burning your list
- The release stays the same, the opening changes. IndiePump’s outreach rules say never send the same text twice. For a press release that means a short personal note above the release for each writer: why this news fits what they cover. The facts below it stay identical.
- One recipient per email. No list of addresses in the To or CC field.
- Use the channel the outlet asks for. If a site has a news address or a tips form, use that, not a writer’s private account.
- Never paste keys into a release. Valve’s Steam Keys documentation warns that fraudsters pose as journalists to collect keys and resell them. Link a press kit where writers request a key and you decide, and see our guide on getting streamers to play your indie game for how keys reach creators safely.
Games Press itself takes releases by email, but says it cannot promise to publish everything it receives, especially at busy times. Treat it as one more place your news can appear, not a replacement for writing to people who cover your genre.
A release is only as good as the press kit it links to. These three games on IndiePump.space have a release date on their Steam pages, Tank Mates on 6 November 2026, Path Defenders on 10 November 2026 and New Science in March 2027, and a press kit a writer can open straight from a release.
Release dates set, press kits ready on IndiePump.space
Demo available
How IndiePump can help
If you want your release written and sent to writers who cover your genre, look at our PR and email outreach service, or talk to us about your launch date.
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