Press Release - worth doing?

Hi, so then, is a press release worth doing via one of the various companies that sends your press release off to lots of contacts for >$100?

I can write a press release myself no problems but I don't have the contacts. What I'm looking at is that to pay for a press release I'd need to make around 8 direct sales - easy you think, or is it? It depends who the press release goes to - if it's mainstream game sites and you are selling casual games then it's not so cool. Also I bet the press contacts are inundated this time of year with tons of games they don't care about. This may sound negative but I'm being the devil's advocate - I want to know that it's worth spending $150 or not...If it was $60, I'd do it right now.

I'm going to use a shareware submission services as they don't cost much and I've seen the result of that traffic before, so I think that's worth doing.

So, does anyone have any experience of this and can you offer any insights. Thanks! :-)

Only with books, and not on the net, and someone in house didit, so there own list. Basicaly its worth it over a few books, because the sales of whichever one actualy has a "review" shoot up to make the loss for the others worth it. (I say review, but often they just canibilise the press release).
The problem in this case is that you dont know who is on the list, and you only have one product. My feeling would be that you could spend $100 of you own time making a mail merge list, and do it your self.

I see thanks for your book experience. To be honest though, I don't want to spend $100 of my time making a list right now as I have a zillion things still to do before I can "go on Holiday" :-)

I think this is one area where a direct relationship is worth its weight in gold. There's no secret to who media contacts are and modern technology enables you to keep them up to date of your release schedule yourself - paying a third party ensures your game will get lost in the midst of a slurry of others that they represent. If you could get a genuine honest-to-gosh PR body onside that would be different, but there's more to PR than CC'ing contacts, so paying someone to do only that strikes me as a waste of cash.

Worth every penny as long as you use the right service. My advice is to work with someone who has industry specific contacts and not a generalist.

What PR has done for me:

1) Games reviewed in magazines and included on CD's.
2) Retail Publishing Deal.
3) Magazine Interviews.
4) Large Licensing Opportunities.
5) Venture Capitalist Interest.
6) The current deal that we spoke about yesterday.

I have my own lists ( http://www.prtoday.net ) and they are pretty damn relevant to this business - you can get access via http://www.gamerelease.net (no longer an Indiepath Company)

Two very different opinions.

Indiepath: Yeah I've been talking to Juuso, it's just a lot of money right now and Helen is already cross about the amount I've invested in this game (time+money).

Well, if you want to go as far as selling Holiday Bonus on Amazon, and retail stores like Best Buy or Circuit City, then that would involve even more cost to even do that. It all depends on how popular you wish to make this game. Of course, a game like Holiday Bonus may be in the budget software column at some of these stores, but it's worth the shot.

I'll talk to him in the morning.

groovy, thanks dude. Have a good weekend. It's Merlio's company meal tonight and despite me not working for them for a year, I'm going out with them for a free meal and to get blasted!

Not really -- I agree wholeheartedly with Indiepath that proper PR representation is worthwhile. Just be sure that's what you're getting for your money. Speaking as someone who has worked on a games mag or two, though, direct contact from the developer is always appreciated (assuming the product is worth coverage). In the mainstream industry PR can sometimes form an irritating barrier between the publication and the people it really wants to talk to (read interrogate *cough*) so, y'know, watch out for that and don't let it happen. Now I know you're not specifically thinking about magazines so my rambling isn't all that relevant, but there you go.

Go for it! Having a current Christmas game you're topical, so you might generate some extra interest.

Do it now though (or Monday) or miss the xmas boat!

Have you broken the record yet for most Grey Alien created topics in off topic? :)

I've been working for computer magazines for the last ten years and the guys who are responsible for the games reviews are always grateful to get into direct contact, especially if you send them a game for a review. Direct contact with the mags is always very useful.

Barney

(tu) ENAY: Yes cos no one else has made a Grey Alien created topic - it's not possible.

Barnabius: OK good tip, guess I should have found out which ones were running Christmas game features! doh, maybe next year...adding to To Do list...