How Indigo Pearl created PR buzz for the London Games Festival

PR planning for the London Games Festival 2024 was a complex operation with many moving parts. With over 35 events to attend, over 300 games to play, and tens of thousands of visitors across two and half weeks, the festival’s PR opportunities were endless, the events calendar ever-changing, and the inbox never emptying.

Working with Michael French, the festival director at Games London, Indigo Pearl agreed this year’s PR objectives were three-fold: Shine a light on the UK games industry as the London Games Festival returns for its ninth year from April 9 to April 25. Raise industry and media awareness for the city-wide celebration that incorporates a busy program of activity for global game professionals and players across the country. Boost the profile of the festival to help attract jobs and investment into the UK sector.

The nature of the festival was that, in the campaign strategy stage, the plans and PR opportunities changed daily. Consistent communication with the client was key during this fast-moving phase, with the joint WhatsApp group coming alive for another year.

Brief

First up was planning and execution for the all-important listings media - getting the festival into the ‘what’s on?’ sections. The process involved several rounds of media alerts and follow-ups but resulted in London Games Festival mentions with the likes of The Times, TimeOut, Visit London, City AM, Londonist, Conde Nast Traveler, and many more.

In February, Indigo Pearl was invited to attend a meeting between Games London and the Greater London Authority to discuss how to incorporate the creative initiative #LondonCreates into this year’s festival. Following the success of showcasing other creative sectors, the London Creates Games project was born, and resulted in extensive support from the Evening Standard including in-depth editorial features focusing on the London games scene, the newspaper front cover with exclusively produced artwork, and a guest appearance and speech by editor Dylan Jones at the festival’s launch event.

Next up was Ensemble, the festival’s annual spotlight showcasing UK video game talent from Black, Asian, and underrepresented ethnicities. Indigo Pearl set about championing this year’s cohort of game makers and industry influencers, working under embargo with trusted media outlets including the BBC and GamesIndustry.biz to place interviews and photo shoots. In addition to placing media coverage, the team also worked to maximize awareness of the Ensemble exhibition in Trafalgar Square, with several journalists, film crews, and consumers attending the Saturday showcase.

For the first time, this year’s festival featured an event called Screen Play, where leaders in the fields of games, movies, and television spent a day discussing how these areas are converging. Indigo Pearl set about placing interviews and provided key guest speakers for the event itself. Coverage included interviews and features with the Radio Times, Edge magazine, and Television Business International.

For the playable side of the festival, Indigo Pearl called on its media contacts to ensure the games were spotlighted, and game-related coverage appeared across NME, The Gamer, PCGamesN, Nintendo Life, Sports Illustrated, Rock Paper Shotgun, and more.

Along with events organized by the festival, there are also sessions arranged by a third party. Hotly talked about events included the Bafta Video Games Awards, the experimental games exhibition Now Play This, and the consumer games show WASD. Indigo Pearl was tasked with ensuring any joint PR opportunities were identified and any media requests were shared and maximized.

Results

The PR campaign resulted in over 180 pieces of coverage, and the festival itself enjoyed a record-breaking 100k+ visitors across the two and a half weeks. All campaign objectives were met and exceeded.

Part of the success of the PR campaign was Indigo Pearl’s agility and accessibility when it came to the client’s needs. It’s always a fast-moving, ever-changing project and demands an agency that can work in that environment.

Indigo Pearl was on hand for the client at every turn and attended the majority of events. Having worked in the games industry for over 20 years the team knows the who’s who, the VIP list, the newcomers, and the next big things.

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