The evolution of communications strategies in games

“Most tech developers are fucking awful marketers.”

Rana Rahman has worked in PR for two decades, having started out working on consumer brands like Philips, Fujifilm, PlayStation, and a whole load of dotcom companies. 

He now exclusively focuses on creating  data-driven B2B communications campaigns for some of the biggest companies in the industry. Team Raptor’s experience includes the likes of ZBD, Aptoide, Almedia, Metaplay, Midjiwan, and Xsolla.  

He founded Raptor PR in 2019 to support his previous freelance comms career, then pivoting into full PR agency mode with a team in January 2021 during Covid, when it landed its first retainer, Admix, following which it has experienced significant growth.

Raptor’s aim is to help put games industry and tech companies on the map, promoting their offerings to various industries which, ultimately, will lead to sales. A good agency also helps shape messaging strategies – how a company explains its services and value proposition to potential clients.

They can also help manage coverage opportunities for tier-1 media, as well as strategies like surveys and data-focused reports to back up a company’s claims.

Rahman says it’s not always appropriate to hire an agency. In fact, he encourages some companies to also communicate with the industry through certain channels on their own, even if they do have an agency.

“It's not just about media anymore, it's a whole integrated marketing mix,” he explains to PocketGamer.biz. 

“So that includes dealing with media like PocketGamer.biz, VentureBeat, TechCrunch and The Wall Street Journal as well as owned-social and paid channels.

“I expect all clients, all companies to be able to do some level of marketing. It's an absolute must, in fact. It's more authentic when a client is able to communicate itself.”

Removing hyperbole

Rahman explains that potential targets for spreading your company’s message can include the media outlets mentioned above, as well as influencers, podcasts, YouTube channels, Substacks, newsletters, webinars, LinkedIn and even industry mixers at events.

However, when it comes to comms, he warns that many B2B tech companies are awful at marketing and their messaging. He says they can get bogged down in brand messaging, which he says is oftentimes “hyperbole” that doesn’t explain to stakeholders what a company actually does. 

He adds: “There is time and a place for brand messaging, and some element of it within media messaging.”

Rahman states some vision statements “mean nothing to the media”, and ultimately might mean nothing to a developer or investor.

“A good comms consultant and agency will be able to create an integrated multi-channel strategy for a mobile games company,” he says.

“It's often essential that there is a marketing function internally to guide the PR agency. There needs to be some marketing vision because PR sits under marketing.”

He adds as an external partner, a PR agency is ultimately “not fully bought into the bullshit, and hasn’t drunk the Kool-Aid”.

The right messaging

So where exactly do some firms go wrong in their communications and what should they be doing right?

Rahman creates an example of a startup calling itself “the leading visionary SDK powering in-game advertising in the world”. Such a statement might not be factually correct, while such brand messaging can be meaningless to media or stakeholders.

“Where we come in is we'll look at the brand messaging, we'll say actually this is the language that's going to resonate best with journalists, media or your audience,” explains Rahman.

“So it's got to be a fusion of brands and simple, clear language which states the value proposition and function of the company.”

Rahman says that it’s normal for a team to be siloed within their own organisation, where they might invent proprietary internal words which only they understand. It’s the agency’s job, then, to create crystal clear messaging that’s honest and defensible, that anyone in the industry will get: be that developers, publishers, investors, talent or stakeholders.

“I’m so fucking tired of writing th'e leading company of XYZ',” states Rahman. “If it's not true, if it's not defensible, don’t do it, because it doesn't fool everyone.”

“It doesn't fool you, it doesn't fool investors. It's just lies. Have that honesty, backed up with data, and it's bulletproof.”

Changing media landscape

One challenge facing communications strategies is the steady erosion of media. And even more specifically, spaces that will run stories related to B2B games tech companies.

Games media has been rocked by website and magazine closures, as well as reduced team sizes on some key outlets. Meanwhile, the nature of B2B ‘media’ is changing, whether that’s ‘smaller’ websites led by a single journalist/writer, a newsletter-focused publication, or industry experts providing deep analysis on their own sites, socials, podcasts or videos.

“Going into 2025, there's less reliance on media,” says Rahman. “But it's still massively important because, you know, we've got clients that want to reach investors, so they want to be in tech tech outlets or business outlets. 

“They want to be regularly in games trade, they want to be news-jacking or cited in media stories.

“But the strategy has to change in 2025, because it has to. You need to basically do the research to see where your audience goes, what they read, what they consume, and what they're into.”

He continues: “Also this year, we’re pushing into related verticals more, such as fintech and adtech. Also new, is we’re leaping into the film industry. Raptor PR has recently been appointed as Agency of Record by Clear Angle Studios, the market-leading 3D capture and processing company for the film and TV industries."

AI’s rise

One of the big trends to watch in 2025 in the games industry, and in media, is the use of AI, which has already had some impact on jobs. But can these tools really assist in communications strategies?

“I think it's a great tool,” says Rahman. “It's an awesome tool to help you brainstorm ideas.

“I used AI to create the headline of our biggest campaign last year. It gave me a word which is not normally in my vocabulary. This campaign went wild across B2B and B2C.”

However, he notes AI can’t create complex B2B technical writing. He says brands are already using AI-written articles on their blogs, and while from a quick scan they can look ok, the details don’t often add up for an insightful read.

He adds: “There’s a balance of editorial and commercial, and that’s quite a human quality.”

Rana Rahman and Raptor PR will be at Pocket Gamer Connects London on January 20th to 21st. The agency will also be hosting a networking mixer on the 21st, along with ZBD and Adjoe, which you can register for here.