Developing a mobile game is only the first step in the process of generating revenue from a game. Finding an audience is becoming the most difficult hurdle for small developers who don’t have the advantage of an existing base of fans. Every independent game developer knows how difficult it is to compete with AAA companies with their multi-million marketing budgets, and in order to succeed, they need to work smarter — not harder.
That’s why PRninja was created, to help indies with their marketing and public relations campaigns, and help them break into international markets. PRninja is an interactive guide and tool for the iPad that helps developers and small game studios with the planning, scheduling, and execution of their PR and marketing campaigns. “It guides them through the main rounds of PR for video games, and helps them to get media attention they deserve,” said Maryna Petrenko, developer of PRninja, who spoke to [a]list daily. “I did extensive research on PR and marketing for small developers, and I took all this knowledge and put it into this app.”
The app grew out of Petrenko’s experience working in PR, primarily with video games, and seeing the struggles indie developers had to get their apps noticed. “It’s exceedingly difficult to get reviews, to get anyone to notice your game,” said Petrenko. “Small indie developers from America and Europe were wondering how much our services cost, and most of them could not afford to pay this much money for marketing and PR. So they would decide to go with their own efforts, and sometimes I would wonder how they would go about it.”
The difficulty for indie developers is only climbing. “It’s getting more and more competitive,” said Petrenko. “It’s getting really difficult, even for PR people. It’s really impossible for an ordinary person who doesn’t know how to write a pitch or approach a journalist.”
“You should start working on game marketing before you even sign with a PR agency,” Petrenko advises. “Get your media base, work with your friends and family to spread the word about your game. Do everything you can before the game is actually ready.”
In addition to a variety of helpful marketing tips and tricks, PRninja offers interactive developer and PR/marketing checklists; guides to building your own media bases, and lists of utility tools that every small indie developer can benefit from. The app provides 2, 4, and 6 week game launch campaigns along with the basics of App Store optimization and lists of media to target.
PRninja is now available on the App Store for free download, and more information is available on the website.
