作者：Eric Caoili

对于我们来说制作游戏所面临的最大挑战不在于游戏制作本身，而是关于如何推销这款游戏。也许你已经创造了一款非常出色的游戏，但是如果你不能让别人注意到这款游戏，它便只会始终默默无闻。

Vlambeer的Rami Ismail已经成功地制作并推销了许多独立游戏（游戏邦注：包括《Super Crate Box》，《Radical Fishing》等），他甚至专门为独立开发者创造了市场营销工具，如自动宣传工具包。

尽管对于游戏的市场营销来说，利用各种可行的工具并研究相关向导至关重要，但是Ismail认为除此之外，当开发者在推广独立游戏时还必须掌握4大属性与要求。

1.鼓足勇气

Ismail说道：“许多开发者都很害怕将自己充满激情的游戏项目或最新的创造作品暴露在媒体面前，但是事实上，媒体并不是他们的敌人。”

他认为那些热爱游戏的新闻记者们的目标与开发者其实非常相近，因为他们都希望呈现出最优秀的游戏。除了开发者必须努力创造出优秀的游戏外，新闻媒体也能够帮助他们将游戏推向更广泛的用户群体。

这也是我为什么说你应该大胆地将游戏呈现在众多媒体前，或者与媒体们保持密切联系的主要原因。如果未能及时收到新闻记者的回应也不要太过沮丧，你要想想他们一天会收到多少关于游戏发行和新闻内容的电子邮件。

2.利用常识

当你开始编写要寄给新闻记者的电子邮件时，你就应该清楚其中该包含哪些信息以及不应该出现哪些内容。

例如，不要附加PDF格式的新闻稿；为了确保对方能够更好地看清你的内容，你最好以纯文本形式进行编写。

同时切忌添加任何大型的资产文件，这将会严重阻塞新闻记者的收件箱。相反地，你应该添加一些小图像，并附加相关链接（将对方带向你加载于自己的服务器或文件主机服务上的内容），或引导他们去阅读你的宣传资料。

Ismail补充道：“难道你的电子邮件的主题就只是‘新闻稿’？当然不应该是这样，因为新闻记者每天会收到无数这样的新闻稿。相反地，你应该多花点时间以简短的文字去总结邮件主题。”

3.与新闻记者产生共鸣

Ismail说道：“如果独立游戏开发者清楚新闻记者所面临的处境，他们便能够有效地避开许多陷阱。新闻记者们每天都需要面对无数新闻资源，但是他们根本没有足够的时间一一挑选真正有趣的内容，也没有足够的空间去刊登所有优秀的新闻。”

这与设计一款一经发行便能够吸引广大用户注意的游戏一样，你同样也需要确保新闻记者能够快速注意到你的项目的过人之处，并立马能够组织合适的语言去推广这款游戏。

当你在撰写电子邮件或新闻稿时，你一定要想办法让你的游戏能够突显于所有竞争者之中。而为了进一步吸引新闻记者对于游戏的好奇，并让他们能够拥有更多文章素材，你便需要创造一份包含所有资产和工作室/游戏信息的在线新闻宣传袋。

Press-Kit_Web(from adaptivecurriculum)

4.投入必要的时间

在你投入了数个月，甚至是数年时间创造出一款游戏，并努力完善了游戏之后，你就更不能草率地对待游戏的市场营销工作了。

Ismail指出：“我们必须花时间去思考电子邮件的主题，花时间去撰写一份优秀的新闻稿，花时间去创造一份宣传资料袋，并花时间去制作一张能够有效呈现游戏内容的截图。”

让我们以Vlambeer即将发行的混战游戏《Luftrausers》为例，该开发团队便投入了大量时间打算制作一张完美的截图。后来他们因为考虑到游戏主要是关于移动，所以便决定呈现出动画式的GIF。

开发者说道：“虽然这需要花费我们一定的时间，但是这种投入却能够确保你辛苦创造出的作品在发行后能够获得关注。”

心态的转变

以上内容都是你在推广游戏时必须考虑到的（假设你已经拥有一款出色的游戏），除此之外Ismail还提到一个能够改变独立工作室命运的方法，即心态的转变。

他解释道：“作为独立开发者，我们没有理由去害怕任何事物。我们没有理由害怕媒体，没有理由害怕定位，也没有理由害怕新闻稿。我们可以发送新闻稿，可以大胆地谈论各种事件，可以组织见面会也可以创造宣传资料。”

尽管你可能对此充满怀疑，但是你必须意识到：“你已经将游戏当成自己生命中不可分割的一大部分。所以你必须深呼吸，挺直腰杆，做出适当规划并开始落实行动！”

（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，拒绝任何不保留版权的转载，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

How to make the press notice your indie game

By Eric Caoili

For many of us, the biggest challenge in making a game has nothing at all to do with actually making a game, and everything to do with promoting it. You could have a real breakout hit on your hands, but if you can’t get anyone to play it, how will anybody know?

Vlambeer’s Rami Ismail has plenty of experience making indie games (Super Crate Box, Radical Fishing) and promoting them, even creating marketing tools specifically geared toward independent developers, like an automatic press kit generator.

While taking advantage of available tools and researching guides for marketing games are key, Ismail believes there are also four essential attributes and requirements you should have when promoting your indie titles.

1. Have some guts

“Reaching out to press with your passion project or latest creation can be scary, but the press, contrary to what a lot of developers seem to think, is not your enemy,” says Ismail.

He argues that the game enthusiast press is really the closest thing to developers in terms of goals, because both groups want to bring great games to the world. While developers strive to create great games, journalists aim to help those projects reach a larger audience.

That’s why you shouldn’t be afraid to contact the press about your game, or follow up with them every now and then. If you don’t get a reply, don’t take it personally, as journalists tend to get dozens of emails about game releases and news tips every day.

2. Employ common sense

When drafting your emails to journalists, what you should and shouldn’t include in your messages are self-evident for the most part, provided that you give them a little thought.

For example, simply including your formal press release as an attached PDF won’t do the trick; you want to make sure it’s as accessible as possible, so it’s best to also include it as plain text in the email.

And It’s not the best idea to clog journalists’ inboxes by including huge asset files either. Instead, attach smaller images, offer links to files you’ve uploaded to your own server or a file hosting service, and/or direct them to your press kit.

Ismail adds, “Do you clearly indicate that it’s a press release by making the subject to your email simply be ‘Press Release’? Of course not, because they get dozens of those — instead, spend time coming up with a subject that summarizes your whole e-mail in a nice, short line.”

3. Empathize with the press

“A lot of common pitfalls for indie developers are easily avoided if you consider the way the press works,” says Ismail. “They have a sheer endless amount of news to pick from, an extremely limited amount of time to sort out what is interesting, and even less space to actually report the good news.”

Just like when designing a game meant to have immediate appeal to a broad audience, you want to make it as easy as possible for journalists to discover what’s great or unique about your project, and to find what they need to write about it quick.

Keep that in mind when writing your emails and press releases to ensure your game stands out from the dozens of other titles competing for attention. And to keep the interest of journalists looking for more details about your project, create an online press kit that offers all the assets and studio/game information that can help them flesh out their articles.

4. Take your time, do it right

After you’ve labored for months or even years to create your game, polishing it as much as possible, it doesn’t make sense to rush your marketing with slapdash efforts that don’t do your work justice.

Ismail points out, “It takes time to write the perfect subject line to your e-mail. It takes time to write a great press release. It takes time to create a press kit. … It takes time to create that one screenshot that perfectly conveys your game.”

For Vlambeer’s upcoming dogfighting game Luftrausers, for example, the team spent hours trying to come up with the perfect screenshots. In the end, the group decided that because the game is all about motion and movement, it should focus on presenting animated GIFs instead.

“It takes time, but spending that time on marketing will make sure that beautiful thing you’re working on gets the attention it deserves when it launches,” says the developer.

A shift in mentality

Guts, common sense, empathy, and time are all you need to promote a game (provided you’ve got a great game on your hands), though Ismail adds that one of the biggest improvements to an indie studio’s life can come from a shift in mentality.

“As an indie developer, there’s no reason to be scared of anything,” he explains. “There’s no reason to be scared of press, no reason to be scared of pitches, and no reason to be scared of making games. You can send a press release. You can speak at events. You can organize a meetup. You can create a bundle.”

Though it’s alright to have doubts, you should realize, “You’ve made it to the point where you’re making games as a serious part of your life. So take a deep breath, straighten your back, figure things out, and do it.” (source:GAMASUTRA)