Video games PR email volume is too damn high

In the absence of better solutions, inbox clutter is a feature, not a bug.

OFFBEAT by Whetstone Games / Pantaloon

For the longest time, I had only subscribed to one video game PR list (sent by terminals.io), so the number of mostly irrelevant emails landing in my inbox was manageable.

As I fleshed out my gaming tastes and noticed patterns in the games I like—who published them, mainly—I put myself on higher alert for more PR lists. It hasn’t been a concerted effort; rather, if I saw a Google form on a publisher’s website or encountered a PR agency with a key request engine, I’d fill that out and get on with my day.

(I also straight-up emailed two publishers I most admire and heard crickets in return. Hey, if you’re from Raw Fury or Devolver Digital, hit me up.)

Well, a bunch of those forms must have been looked at all at once, because as of this week, I’m suddenly inundated with emails.

It’s fun, don’t get me wrong. These are video games we’re talking about, after all. It’s also cool to see people I follow on Bluesky in my inbox as PR representatives. Hi Ian!

When I look at my morning inbox now, I get a little sad anyway:

• I miss seeing new mail and knowing it’s likely something very relevant to me personally, like a reply to my pitch or a new subscriber notification. Every red number mattered. Not so now.

• I know that other games journos and especially outlets receive magnitudes more press emails than I do. I’m on a handful of lists and will probably add myself to more still. Where I delete a couple of dozen per day, they likely have to deal with a hundred.

Games PR missives are peculiar. They all have this conversational tone one would use to address the player base, like we’re buddy buddies. Yet a lot of them also have oddly formal components, like “I hope this email finds you well,” as if it were a one-on-one corporate conversation.

This mish-mash is inherent in the medium and the relationship, I suppose—I am potentially a player whose interest needs to be piqued, but I’m also a journalist who needs to adhere to certain rules (embargoes) in exchange for insider access and early info.

The PR communications agencies and publishers send to interested writers and editors are mutually beneficial. Both sides recognize that the sheer volume necessitated by the industry will bring significant levels of noise, no matter how much effort is put into segmenting interests and tastes to get a good level of signal. If there were a better way than a barrage of lengthy emails in a daily inbox assault, someone would surely invent it by now.

I delete every email I get after reading/skimming it, unless it’s something that warrants a reply or needs to be kept for posterity. Sometimes I delete without reading. Nothing makes me delete an email faster upon seeing “a roguelike deckbuilding something something”.

When something catches my eye, it’s usually a diversion from the casual tone I described or something specific about the game being announced—maybe a setting, a mechanic, or something entirely unexpected.

Just today, I got an email with the subject line, Shh, shh. Listen. What’s that beautiful sound!? I knew it was a PR comm because I could see the sender, but I clicked faster than you could pronounce “PressEngine”.

Lucky for me, the game being announced inside that email intrigued me too, despite my personal stop words like “tycoon” and “rhythm” contained therein. Judge for yourself:

OFFBEAT is a music-tycoon game meets real audio production tool. Live out your fantasies of being a musician by playing as a jobbing composer - except all your equipment and instruments are a strange array of objects varying from toys to garden ornaments, office supplies, kitchen utensils and so on. Have you ever wondered what it’d be like to make music with a garden gnome? No? Well, you can regardless! Complete jobs for a whole host of eclectic characters and grow your reputation!

And the cool part is, everything you make in the game gets exported and saved locally on your computer as WAV file for you to then do whatever you want with. The devs are looking to lower the barrier to entry into music production – something that can be very costly and complex – by offering a playful, low-pressure way to learn the basics.

The mechanics sound cool. The graphics look lo-fi cozy. I loved the inclusion of the bit about the devs’ mission. I also liked the playful tone of the comm that didn’t sound forced for a change. This is something I might want to play, and this is a publisher I’d potentially enjoy interacting with. Plus, they made a whole track entirely in-game for the promo!

The game could also be a total fluke, but I will want to find that out by myself. I’m sold—mission accomplished. The PR email was successful.

I’m not suggesting every video game PR email should sound or be like this. Sometimes, a little formality goes a long way. A lot of times, a good old “Key offer” in the subject line is all you need. It’s the variety that does it for me… but then again, this is far from exclusive to video games PR.

I just wish I didn’t have to hit “Delete” this often.

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