What should a game press kit include?

A press kit should include a stable playable build, quality assets (screenshots, trailers, key art, GIFs), a fact sheet, a description, and contact info, everything press needs to easily understand and cover your game well. The mistakes are not having a stable build (so press hits crashes), missing or poor assets, and not representing the game. A good press kit includes: a stable, tested build for press and influencers to play (crucial, since a buggy build leads to negative or no coverage), quality, easy-to-use assets (high-resolution screenshots, a trailer, key art, GIFs that represent the game well), a clear fact sheet and description (so press can quickly understand and write about the game), and contact and logistics info. The build's stability is especially important, press playing a crash-ridden build covers it negatively. Bugnet helps you ensure the press build is stable (capturing and fixing the high-impact crashes), so press and influencers experience a working game that earns positive coverage, and the underlying game quality matches the polished assets, supporting a press kit that gets your game covered well rather than one where a buggy build undermines the coverage your assets and pitch were trying to earn.

Should I give press a build of my game?

Yes, if it is stable, giving press and influencers a build to play is valuable for coverage, but only if the build is stable enough to give a good impression, a buggy build leads to negative or no coverage. Hands-on access lets press and influencers experience your game and cover it more compellingly (and is often expected), so providing a build is valuable. But the build must be stable: if press play a build that crashes or is badly buggy, they cover it negatively (or not at all), so a buggy press build backfires, you would be better off not providing one than providing a broken one. So ensure the build you give press is tested and stable, giving a good impression. Bugnet helps you stabilize the press build by capturing and fixing the high-impact crashes and issues (testing it as you would a release), so press and influencers experience a working, polished game that earns positive coverage, rather than a buggy build that turns their coverage negative, making the press build an asset that drives good coverage rather than a liability, which is the difference between giving press a stable build and a broken one.

How does game quality affect press coverage?

Game quality, especially stability, directly affects press coverage, since press and influencers who play your game experience its quality firsthand, so a stable, polished game earns positive coverage while a buggy one earns negative coverage or none. Press coverage is shaped by the press's experience of the game (when they play a build) and the game's reception, so quality matters: a stable, polished game gives press a good experience to cover positively and a quality product to recommend, while a buggy, unstable game gives them crashes and problems to cover negatively (or makes them pass on covering it). And press coverage influences players, who then experience the game themselves, so quality affects both the coverage and whether it translates to retained players. So investing in game quality, especially stability, pays off in better press coverage and its results. Bugnet helps you achieve the stability that drives positive coverage: capturing and fixing the high-impact crashes and issues, so the game press plays and recommends is stable and polished, earning good coverage that translates into players who have a good experience, rather than a buggy game that earns negative coverage and disappoints the players that coverage brings, connecting your game's quality to the press coverage it earns.

Common Press Kit Mistakes

Quick answer: The biggest press kit mistakes are no stable build, missing assets, and not representing the game, fix these by providing a stable build and quality assets.

A press kit shapes the coverage your game gets, and common mistakes undermine it. Here are the most common press kit mistakes and how to avoid them.

Not Having a Stable Build to Share

A common press kit mistake is not having a stable build for press and influencers to play, so when they try it, they hit crashes and bugs, leading to negative coverage or none. Press playing a buggy build is a coverage disaster.

The fix is providing a stable, tested build. Bugnet helps you stabilize the build press will play (capturing and fixing the high-impact crashes), so press and influencers experience a working game that earns good coverage rather than crashes that turn their coverage negative.

Including Missing or Poor Assets

A second mistake is a press kit with missing, low-quality, or hard-to-use assets, screenshots, trailers, key art, fact sheets, so press cannot easily cover your game well. A poor press kit makes coverage harder and lower-quality.

The fix is a complete press kit with quality, easy-to-use assets. While Bugnet does not create assets, it supports the underlying game quality (stability) that the assets should represent, so the polished assets reflect a polished game press will find lives up to them.

Not Representing the Game Well

A third mistake is a press kit that does not represent the game well, not conveying what makes it interesting or what playing it is like, so press struggles to cover it compellingly. The press kit should make your game easy to understand and cover.

The fix is a press kit that clearly represents the game, backed by a game worth covering. Bugnet helps with the game quality (a stable, polished game press will cover positively), so the press kit represents a game that delivers, supporting coverage that translates into players.

Avoid the big press kit mistakes: no stable build, missing assets, and not representing the game. Provide a stable build and quality assets that represent the game.