Speaker: Michelle, senior producer at Armor Games Studios, before that marketing at another indie publisher (Cozy
Grove, Sail Forth). Her surname is not in the transcript.
Year: not stated. About 2024 (inferred): her example trailer end slate announces a third-quarter 2024 release, she
says TikTok may soon be banned in the US, and that Twitter has declined over the past two years.
The message comes first: one short line aimed at a defined audience, saying what kind of game it is and what the
player does. Her templates (one slide): <verb> a <noun> while you <verb>, <Name> is a <genre> where you <verb> and <verb>, or a line of story followed by an in-world call to action. Lean on the genre, not on comparisons with other
games.
Add a list of bullet points of what is unique (mechanics, art style, soundtrack and a well-known composer, modes,
length). The same line and bullets go on the store page, in the press kit and in every email to press.
Set up a website hub and a press kit early: press who want to cover a game but cannot find its material will not.
Keep a press list as a spreadsheet: name, email, handle, outlet or streaming platform, platforms they play on, region
(to send in their daytime), notes. Use only contact details people list publicly; include small streamers and niche
sites, found through Twitch tags or reviewers of similar games.
Write to press at the beats that matter: announcement, release window, a new demo or a big festival (not every small
one), the release date (announced no more than a few months ahead), and launch.
Send review keys about a month before release, with an embargo. On launch day send a short email: the line, the
bullets, store page, press kit and press release links, a small GIF or screenshot, and a key. In her words: "You don't
want to create an extra step by making the press and influencers have to ask you for a key."
With a press release: 6 to 10 screenshots and key art both with and without the title, which press often ask for; a
contact address, ideally a separate press@ one since it becomes public.
Hand keys out with care: giving them to everyone who asks devalues the game.
Also in the talk: a five-hour-a-week plan (social posts, press list, networking and festivals, devlog and store page,
capturing content), community building, word of mouth, measuring success by goals that matter to you.
What the kit took
.agents/skills/store-page/SKILL.md section 6: the message shapes, the press kit contents, the press list
columns and public-contacts-only rule, when to write, review keys with an embargo and the launch email.
ci/godot/lib/Store.ps1Test-PressKit and ci/godot/lib/Doctor.ps1: when a project has store/press/, doctor
warns about missing key_art or key_art_notitle, a screenshot count outside 6 to 10, and a missing fact sheet or
press release, or one with no contact email. Warnings only: a game can ship without a press kit.
.agents/skills/release-readiness/SKILL.md: one checklist line (press kit passes doctor, review keys sent
with an embargo).
tests/Test-Store.ps1: a complete kit passes; 11 screenshots, a kit with only key art with the title, 4 screenshots
and a press release without an email, and a kit with no text file are each named; doctor warns (never fails) on a
project with the thin kit. The doctor assertions fail without the Doctor.ps1 change, and the whole test stops
without Test-PressKit.
Not taken, and why
Platform advice (Twitter, TikTok, Reddit, Instagram, Discord) and the claim that wishlists convert 10 to 30% in the
first year: dated; the skill's section 4 has current wishlist data. The two-week launch discount lock is likewise not
repeated (the skill already has Steam's current date rules).
The weekly schedule and community advice: about the developer's time, nothing a kit check or a game file can hold.
A plan gate (launch.press): the release-readiness checklist line covers it without changing every game's plan.
Image size checks for the press kit: the talk gives no sizes, and outlets differ.
The view that paid promoted posts rarely pay back (Q&A): her opinion, citing research she did not name.
Numbers
6 to 10 screenshots and both key art versions (her press release list); review keys about a month before release;
release date announced no more than a few months ahead. No measurements were made here.