Critically acclaimed visual novel Arcade Spirits initiallylaunched exclusively for PC back in 2019 to strong reviews, continuing to hold a respectable score of 78 over a year later. Ready to introduce console gamers to the Funplex, publisher PQube prepared to release the romantic comedy for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch. The PQube team felt they had the gaming media covered for the most part, but wanted to reach newer audiences including outlets, editors and influencers covering LGBTQ+ themes.

With that in mind, we went to work to build a very targeted media list to reach not just the appropriate outlets, but suitable writers we knew would be interested in a game like Arcade Spirits. Getting the targets right was key to our success and would ensure Arcade Spirits was reaching new audiences that would be enthusiastic to get their hands on this quirky adventure. Although gaming sites weren’t our primary targets, we expanded our reach by identifying those that hadn’t already reviewed the game on PC but would help us reach console specific audiences as well.

Our intensive research paid off, as we connected with the lead writer of new indie game column, “The Independent Gamer” in The Hollywood Reporter, securing placement for Arcade Spirits in the top spot of the column’s debut.

We were also able to lock in review coverage with a number of key targets including LGBTQ+ gaming sites Gayming Magazine and PinkFae Gaming, in addition to console specific sites such as Nintendo World Report and PlayStation Universe. Simultaneously, we worked with very select influencers to post about the game as well, resulting in 8BitDylan dedicating a weekly playthrough of the game on his channel, a Twitter giveaway with Shattered Consoles and encouraging Parallax Abstraction to repost his previous review of the game timed to its digital launch.