Introduction
We launched Indie Hive in early 2019, and while I wrote reviews for some time before this, it was only once our site was established that I found myself on the receiving end of emails and messages from indie developers seeking a review for their games.
As a small publication, with an even smaller team, we have limited scope so we’re unable to cover all the games that we are contacted about. This has its positives and negatives, it means we sometimes have a longer turnaround time when it comes to publishing content, and we also have to turn down certain titles but it also allows us to review games that really excite us, curate our site, and mostly write positive reviews.
Generally, we are contacted via email about creating content, though sometimes people reach out using Twitter/X or through our Discord server. There are certain things I personally look for in these messages that are important factors when I’m considering reviewing a game, and there are also some things that are very offputting. This article aims to highlight some of these things and help you be more successful when reaching out to content creators.
Reaching Out for a Review
My preferred method of contact is via email. It allows for speedy communication, attachments, images, and links that I can view in full. Twitter/X messages are OK but it is getting increasingly difficult to contact people using this platform and messages often get lost in ‘message requests’ and go unnoticed for too long. Discord also has its problems, while I am open to review requests from even vaguely established members of our server, requests from random developers are marred by distrust due to the number of scams that are present on this platform and I generally err on the side of caution and do not engage with messages from unknowns.
There are other ways to get your keys to content creators, such as key distribution sites such as Keymailer, Press Engine, and Terminals but these also come with pros and cons such as hefty fees, scammers, and key resellers.
What to Include When Contacting a Reviewer
My Name
I am much more likely to respond to an email that is addressed to me personally or at the very least to ‘Indie Hive’ as a collective group. This lets me know that the developer has spent a minimum of 10 seconds on our website! The site contains information about all our team members and their game preferences so an email directed at a specific person means that the developer actively wants a review on our site specifically, knows what we do, and who would be most suited to covering their game. This feels so much more enticing than something that reads ‘To who it may concern’ or some other generic, thoughtless form of address!
Description
We get tens of emails a day, from press releases to review requests meaning that it is very unlikely I will click any links if there isn’t something in the main body of the email to tell me what type of game you’re developing and what it is about. I won’t want to find out more if I’m not provided with at least the basic information!
Other information can be useful too. A release date lets me know when you’d ideally like content to be published and helps me decide if the review is feasible in terms of timeframe. What platforms the key would be available on is also important as our team primarily reviews games on Windows PCs, with the odd exception. I also need to know what state the game is in, demo, early access or full release. Due to our limitations, I rarely review demos outside of events such as LudoNarraCon. This is because if I am truly interested in a game I want to review the whole experience, we do not publish enough content to justify having a review for a demo and then later, for the full game.
Useful Links
The obvious thing to include is a link to the game’s store page (or store pages if you are releasing your game on multiple platforms). If you know the reviewer’s platform of preference feel free to just include that link to keep things succinct! The link should be prominent so that I can easily find it if the game has already caught my interest and I personally prefer to see a full link so that I know that I’m not being directed anywhere dodgy! Links to your website or relevant social media can also be helpful for the content creator.
Press Kit
A press kit is a great tool for a potential reviewer, whether or not I need to dig for much-needed images or game info can certainly be a factor in deciding whether to cover a game or not. Here are some things that I like to see in a press kit:
Key Art or Featured Image
A must! I don’t want to have to scour the internet for your key art so I can create a thumbnail/featured image for the content I create. Often images found through image searches are out of date, have a poor resolution, or have the wrong aspect ratio, this is extra work for the reviewer but also leads to your game being represented in a way that may not be favourable to you. We like key art to have a 16:9 ratio and be at least 1920×1080 pixels.
Logos and Graphics
These can be really helpful for further promoting your game, for example, I occasionally create no-commentary playthroughs of certain games for our YouTube channel and make custom thumbnails for this content. A good-quality PNG of your logo is perfect for this.
Screenshots
While we at Indie Hive prefer to use our own spoiler-free screenshots to demonstrate our personal experience of the game, some content creators really appreciate having a good selection of screenshots to include in their content. Your images should give a rounded impression of the game and be representative of the things you most want to show off about your project!
Fact Sheet
This is so helpful! A good game description, then genre, a list of platforms, the release date, the price, software and engines used, estimated completion time, and links to your website and different storefronts are all invaluable information. Any information you can provide that will make the reviewer’s job easier will inevitably be appreciated. Just make sure the fact sheet is clear, succinct, and easy to navigate.
Things to Avoid
Blanket Emails
I am under no illusion that review request emails are not sent to multiple content creators. But this does not have to be obvious. Emails that use a generic form of address, or worse, that have 100+ other content creators visibly CC’d in, won’t grab my attention.
Mistakes
Simple errors may seem like something that shouldn’t be a big deal, but if you’re making mistakes in an email, it doesn’t inspire much confidence in the quality of your game. One of my biggest pet peeves is when my name is spelt incorrectly. My name is visible on all my reviews and video content, and my bio is available on the website so it is easy to check. Worse still is when somebody replies to an email with my name in and still gets it wrong, it feels lazy and even a bit rude.
Obviously, it is important to make sure any information you are providing about your game is up to date and correct. Ensure links are accurate and working properly. This helps ensure the reviewer can properly evaluate whether they are the right content creator to cover your game, but also, that any information they share is not wrong or misleading.
Promoting Your Project Before It’s Ready
While it is important to start telling people about your game well in advance of the release so that you can build up publicity and interest, make sure you are not sharing content that is so early in development that it does not represent what the finished game will be. Similarly, it is great to send a press release to let a content creator know about your game in the early-mid stages of development, or even invite them to join a mailing list or follow your social media, but there is no point in asking someone if they will review your game when it releases in 18 months, they won’t remember!
Conclusion
This article is based on my personal experience of being contacted for game reviews, but also on my limited time marketing indie games and what I found to help with successful outreach. There is not a one size fits all approach and different content creators may have slightly different preferences. however, I have tried to keep these suggestions limited to things that should be universally appreciated by any potential reviewer you may contact and hopefully this article will prove beneficial to you.
I want to wish good luck to any indie developers who are reading this and invite you to reach out to us at Indie Hive and let us know about your game!
Looking for more marketing tips for your indie game? You may also enjoy this article:
Indie Game Development and Social Media – Rookie Mistakes I Made
