To an industry outsider, most aspects of a video game marketing campaign are pretty transparent. You have TV, Internet and magazine ads, trailers, reviews, and perhaps a specially devoted website. While marketing teams are known and sometimes given special credit for the success of a product, less is known about the people who run gameplay information, screenshots, and review copies to the press: public relations teams.

The role of a PR worker in the gaming industry is vital, yet under appreciated. They're the ones that help members of the press stay informed, and from a video game marketing perspective they can be crucial. They'll speak to anyone gamers will listen to, including bloggers, webcomic artists and web-TV programs. But doing this is very behind-the-scenes, almost to the point of being invisible. It is reminiscent of a Gustave Flaubert quote, "The artist must be in his work as God is in creation, invisible and all-powerful; one must sense him everywhere but never see him."

GameDaily BIZ talked with David Tractenberg, President of Traction Public Relations, and Corey Wade, Partner in Sandbox Strategies about PR work. We discussed the importance of PR to games, the hidden challenges associated with the field, and alternative means of advertising.

Basic PR such as distributing screens, game info and review copies is all well and good, but the PR worker first has to have a proper understanding of the game and the press that game will be pitched to. Most games don't have the sort of clout of something like Grand Theft Auto, and when you're trying to raise awareness of some unknown mobile phone game, for example, the challenge is evident. When distributing review copies, PR workers have to make sure that the reviewer has the right hardware to play it. A PS2 review copy of a game is useless if the reviewer only has an Xbox in the office.

Speaking about the vitality of PR work, Tractenberg said, "Our component when done correctly can be the most important one though. Studies show that people are about 3 times more likely to believe an article from a reporter than an ad. This makes sense because in our culture as we understand what an ad is and is not. I personally research games on GameRankings.com before I ever buy one, I like knowing that other people played the game and think I would enjoy it. Well those reviews don't just happen. In most cases a PR person has sent a copy of the game out to the press who wrote that review and pitched them on why this game is the greatest in its respective category. If they like the pitch and the game we can get a good score which translates into higher sales. While ads will help you know when the game is coming out and what features it has, PR gets a consumer to put down their hard-earned money for it."

"PR is hands down the most important aspect of promoting a game," agreed Wade. "No marketing spend can save a pathetic PR effort. A game ultimately sells on word of mouth, and obviously without seeing it, gamers are going to look to the press to form opinions. If journalists are going nuts about an upcoming game, the hardcore will pay attention to every detail. Not only that, if a journalist has been given a great introduction to the game in the months preceding the release, he or she will be more inclined to give the game a proper amount of play time during the review stage. There are seemingly countless games out there these days -- journalists are just swamped and don't have much time."

Because of the "backstage" nature of PR, it tends to be something that's only ever noticed if it is done poorly. Without naming any particular companies, GameDaily BIZ has witnessed certain gaming sites giving lower scores because they received a review copy late. On the other hand, certain PR companies choose to play favorites, affecting scores both upward and downward depending on who's being favored and who's being slighted. Should things of this nature really affect review scores? No, but it's certainly in the back of a reviewer's mind when he receives the review copy, and they're only human.

In the more mundane examples, reviewers may just not be all that interested in a certain product. Generating interest where there is little to begin with is hard, and requires a lot of "boot strapping" for a PR team. Tractenberg put it this way, "We do not ever have full control of what a reporter is going to say; it's what makes the articles trust-worthy and keeps PR people up at night. We have to convince someone that a product is not only worth their time to play, but worth their time to write about it and say positive things. One of our other big challenges is that we may be up against a few games coming out that the reporters are more interested in. We need to prove our game has what it takes to compete in a tough landscape just to make sure it gets seen at all. For instance, we represent a lot of smaller developers and it can be very difficult to show off their titles when a reporter is waiting on the next [batch of] Morrowind screenshots. If we were in advertising we could just buy a page and a few banners and be okay. As a PR professional though it's our job to make sure everyone gets their day in the sun from small dev houses to large publishers."

"The challenges are endless, and vary from game to game... but in my experience working some big titles, the main issues are working with ever-changing code, asset creation and approval, working out exclusives, and international coordination," Wade explained. "Sometimes the developer doesn't want to let go of its 'baby', so I think building trust with the people who are putting in brutal hours to make a game is an important skill."

He continued, "The task of balancing print and online press is constantly tricky, especially when trying to keep magazines and websites overseas happy. I think managing the review process is never easy, because you want to make sure the reviewer has all the info he or she needs, but at the same you don't want to be a pest or too pushy."

Certain alternative aspects in marketing have gotten plenty of attention lately, especially viral advertising. Consumers have grown up barraged by commercial messages, making them very wary of standard ways that products are sold. Efforts such as ILoveBees.com interest people, even the press, while spreading the word about the product.

The necessity of a good PR team, however, remains. "Alternative means of marketing are great, but not as a company's primary way of reaching the public," said Tractenberg. "There are always new ideas coming to market that claim to revolutionize the industry. Some work and some don't. We offer blogging, V-blogging, podcasting, EPKs and viral abilities. They are great add-ons, but anyone who wants to replace their traditional campaign with one of these is not going to get the results they want. You still need to contact the press, talk to them, meet with them and give them a copy of the title to make a solid impact. As soon as we stop giving that personal touch and rely on tricks we will loose what little control we have over the public perception of our product."