Developers are starting to find their niche in virtual reality, creating progressively unique experiences tailored for the platform. Working on VR experiences that are designed to make the most of the medium is always a treat, so we couldn’t wait to work with publisher Fellow Traveller on Blind, a hair-raising VR game that plays with the mechanic of sight. With an anticipated launch on the horizon, we maximized the remaining beats to get press and influencers hooked for Blind’s release.
As the Fellow Traveller team prepared to take the game to PAX East 2018, its final show before launch, we took the lead to capitalize on this in-person hands-on opportunity. We pitched and scheduled press and influencer preview demos throughout the show’s run, securing key appointments with editors at Variety, Ars Technica and Destructoid, in addition to ensuring Blind’s inclusion in event coverage on websites such as Fortune and Hardcore Gamer.
Following PAX, the next two key components of our campaign were confirming the release date and locking in preview opportunities with press before launch in September. With the launch date announcement, we secured over 50 media placements, which included coverage on DualShockers, Road to VR and Push Square. It’s also crucial to get a game’s launch date included on master game release date lists or in round-ups, and we pitched and secured inclusion with nearly 15 outlets, including GameSpot, VG247 and Collider.
Securing previews for a VR title is tricky; not every outlet has access to working headsets and certain gaming outlets put VR low on the coverage priority list. For all VR titles we work on, we successfully combat these issues by (omitted by editor, ‘cos, you know, trade secrets).
Through our pitching efforts, we locked in significant preview placements with prominent VR outlets UploadVR and VRFocus. In its preview, UploadVR called Blind “a clever puzzle game that challenges your senses.” VRFocus said the game “has all the makings of a high-quality VR experience, with engaging visuals and spatial sound to truly immerse the player in the story.”
Now that the world knew Blind’s release date, and early previews made a positive impression, it was time to prepare for launch. Again, we identified the ideal media and influencer targets that were best suited for this VR thriller experience, expanding our outreach widely to lock in the most coverage. At launch and in the days to follow, we secured over 30 written reviews with outlets including Cinema Blend, Windows Central and Push Square, and nearly 60 earned influencer placements with popular YouTubers Nathie, Wishing Tikal and Bentastic.
Overall, we secured more than 130 Blind articles spanning news, reviews and features, bringing in an estimated total of 180 million unique monthly visitors. Our earned influencer outreach video impressions reached more than 1.1 million subscribers.
Check out the links below to see some of the top press and influencer coverage we secured throughout the campaign.
