With over 14,000 games releasing on Steam every year and editorial teams at major outlets shrinking, journalists have seconds to decide whether to cover your title. A professional press kit removes that friction: it gives media everything they need in one place, instantly, no login or reply-from-you required.
Table of Contents
This guide covers what a press kit is, why it matters specifically for indie games, every asset you need to include, the tools to build one today, and the quiet mistakes that kill coverage chances before a single journalist reads your pitch.
Quick Answer
An indie game press kit is a publicly accessible web page — ideally at yourgame.com/press — containing a factsheet, short and long game descriptions, at least six high-resolution screenshots (1920×1080 minimum, no watermarks), a downloadable MP4 trailer, transparent PNG logos in light and dark versions, and a direct press contact email. No passwords, no Google Drive hunts, no sign-up walls. Everything a journalist needs to write about your game, available in under 30 seconds.
What Is a Press Kit for a Game?
A press kit — also called a media kit — is a curated collection of assets and information compiled in one place so that journalists and media professionals can cover you without needing to ask. In a general PR context, a press kit might contain a company backgrounder, executive bios, and a press release. For a video game, the format is adapted to what game journalists and content creators actually need: factual descriptions, high-resolution screenshots, a downloadable trailer, logos in multiple formats, and a direct contact email.
The indie game press kit format was standardized by Rami Ismail of Vlambeer through the presskit() tool, which gave the indie community a shared language for what a press kit should contain and where it should live. That structure has held: the best press kits today follow the same core layout, now built with modern tools on your own domain.
A game press kit serves three distinct audiences: journalists writing review or preview coverage, content creators (YouTubers and streamers) who need embeddable video and clean logos, and industry contacts such as platform representatives, festival organizers, and publishers scouting new titles. One public URL handles all three — and when someone searches your game’s name, that /press page is often the first professional touchpoint they reach.
What to Include: Every Section Explained
Start with a factsheet sidebar — the most-scanned element on any press page. Include: game title, developer name, publisher (or ‘self-published’), platforms, release date, price, genre, engine, and player count. Add your website and social links. A journalist should be able to read this in under ten seconds and know exactly what they’re looking at.
Descriptions come next. Write a one-to-two sentence short pitch that is quotable, jargon-free, and written as if it will open an article about your game. Follow it with a longer description of two to three paragraphs plus five to eight feature bullets covering your game’s core hook, mechanics, and tone. Use concrete details over adjectives — ‘a 40-hour open-world RPG with fully voiced dialogue’ lands better than ‘an epic, immersive adventure.’
Screenshots are the single most critical visual asset in your kit. Include 6–12 images at 1920×1080 resolution or higher, saved as JPEG at 90–95% quality. Show variety: active gameplay, environmental breadth, UI in context, and content from both early and late in the game. Never include watermarks, debug text overlays, or heavy compression — these get your game skipped instantly by visual-forward outlets.
For video, embed your main trailer on the page and also provide a direct downloadable MP4 link at 1080p minimum. Pair this with 60–90 seconds of unedited B-roll gameplay footage and three to five GIFs for outlets that want quick social embeds. A YouTube-only link forces journalists to screen-record your trailer — many simply won’t.
Logos should be provided as PNG files with transparent backgrounds in both light and dark variants. Include your key art at 1920×1080 or higher, with and without text overlays. For additional polish, add brand assets: your primary colors as hex codes and font names so designers at larger outlets can match your game’s visual identity when building feature spreads.
If your game has received any recognition — festival selections, award nominations, notable quotes from early coverage, or a verified aggregate score — include a short awards and social proof section. A quote from an outlet journalists already respect carries more weight than any amount of marketing copy.
Close the page with team information (studio name, location, size, and key member names with roles), a dedicated press contact email address, and a single ZIP file containing all assets. That one-click download is used constantly by writers working on deadline.
How to Build and Host Your Press Kit
Host your press kit at yourgame.com/press rather than on a third-party subdomain. Self-hosting keeps all link equity and SEO value on your own domain — critical when journalists are searching for your game’s name directly.
The most practical free tool today is presskit.gg, a WordPress plugin that generates a professional press page layout on your own domain with no coding required. It is the modern successor to presskit() — the original tool created by Rami Ismail of Vlambeer that defined the format for over a decade but is no longer maintained and requires deprecated PHP 5 hosting.
If you don’t use WordPress, Press Kitty by IMPRESS is the best hosted alternative: it has a free tier, fast WYSIWYG setup, and is built specifically for indie game studios. The trade-off is that your press kit lives on their domain rather than yours.
On timing: build your press kit during beta, or at the very latest the day you make your first public announcement. Journalists who spot your reveal will visit your site immediately — your press kit needs to be live and fully stocked at that moment. Update it every time something significant changes: new trailer, new screenshots, delay announcement, or platform additions.
Common Mistakes That Kill Coverage
Password-protecting your press assets is the fastest way to get ignored. Journalists will not email you for access credentials — they will move on to the next pitch in their inbox. Make everything publicly accessible with no account required.
Linking only to YouTube for your trailer is a common and costly mistake. Many outlets need a local MP4 file to embed properly or to include in video productions. Always provide a direct download link alongside the embed.
Using low-resolution, compressed, or watermarked screenshots signals an unpolished studio. Outlets that would have run a feature on your game will pass if the only available images look bad at print or full-screen resolution. Invest time in capturing clean, well-composed shots at native resolution.
Skipping a dedicated press contact email — or using a generic info@ address nobody actively monitors — means pitches and review key requests go unanswered during the window that matters most. Create a press@yourstudio.com address and check it daily through your launch period.
Finally, do not let your press kit go stale. A page with screenshots from an early prototype, an outdated release date, or a trailer that no longer reflects the shipped game actively undermines your credibility. Set a calendar reminder to audit your press kit at every major milestone.
indie game press kit guide FAQs
What is a press kit?
A press kit (also called a media kit) is a curated collection of information and assets — descriptions, images, logos, and contact details — compiled in one place to make it easy for journalists and media to write about you. For most indie studios, this takes the form of a public web page at yourgame.com/press.
What is a press kit for a game?
A game press kit is a publicly accessible web page where journalists, streamers, and content creators find everything they need to cover a game: a factsheet, descriptions, high-resolution screenshots, a downloadable trailer, logos in multiple formats, and a direct press email — all without needing to contact the developer first.
When should I create my indie game press kit?
Build your press kit before your first public announcement. Journalists who discover your reveal trailer or Steam page will look for a /press page immediately. If it is not live at that moment, that coverage window closes.
What is the best free tool to build an indie game press kit?
presskit.gg is the best free option for developers who already use WordPress — it is self-hosted, free, and keeps your press kit on your own domain. If you do not use WordPress, Press Kitty by IMPRESS offers a free hosted tier with a quick setup, though your kit will live on their domain rather than yours.
Do I need separate press kits for Steam, consoles, and mobile?
One unified press kit is sufficient for most indie studios. Include platform-specific details (store links, platform icons) in your factsheet and note any platform-exclusive features in your description. You only need separate kits if your game has meaningfully different content across platforms.
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