What Are Public Relations?

Practically speaking, the first line of relations in public relations, or PR, is with the news and reviews editors at the media outlets who get your news to the public. Editors are the people who decide what news is published, who is interviewed, and which games are reviewed. Effective public relations include a host of activities, including press releases and media kits, online interviews, and television and radio appearances. However, to get those interviews and appearances, and to get those games reviewed, you need to begin your PR efforts with the press release.

"Public relations for games is really community relations," says Travis Cannell, business development manager for Gnostic Labs. "All effort should be to interact with this community, keep it happy, and grow it as quickly as possible. Press releases are your primary tool to meet those ends."

Ever see an article about one of your competitors in the industry press and wonder why they didn't write about you and your great company? Odds are that you're reading about your competitor because they send out press releases—effective press releases.