There’s a fantastic GDC talk on DIY indie marketing, where the speaker presents her advice in the weekly framework of “an hour per day”. One day is dedicated to building up a list of press contacts to reach out to whenever you have something coverage-worthy happening, which game launch definitely is! I think the idea is that you’ve started the process well in advance of actual launch, but like with most things I’m sure it’s better late than never.

You can see her brief explanation starting here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWyZlGMysH8&t=1815s (the whole video is very much worth a watch, though), but the general gist is:

• Make a spreadsheet of contacts, their name and email but also what platforms they cover, their physical location so you can time your email right, etc etc
• Include big name reviewers from big name sites but also niche bloggers, streamers and so on who are interested in your genre of game

Then you have your list as a resource built up over time and you can reach out for “marketing beats” like demos, releases, updates, etc and see who bites.

The worst that can happen is … nothing! :)

@Justdaveisfine I would say yeah! Especially send it out to those who specialize in something niche that applies to your game (like linux gaming or retro-style games)

It doesn’t hurt to send your game out, especially to independent reviewers.