Seattle-based PAX West is a prime opportunity to reach not just key press and influencers, but a major North American consumer audience fanatical about all things gaming and geek culture. For publisher Sold Out and dev studio Metronomik, it was a no-brainer to showcase music-based action adventure game No Straight Roads (NSR) at the show. With the game launching in early 2020 for PC and PS4, PAX West delivered the ideal audience and stage to lock in more media preview impressions, establish connections and interest with content creators ahead of launch, and get in front of hordes of potential players in a critical pre-launch time period.
ROCKIN’ OUT WITH RAD DEMOS
Leading into PAX, we pitched and scheduled nearly 30 press and influencer demos, and secured interest from a number of others who committed to coming by the booth when their schedules allowed. Once PAX was in full swing, we were able to bring in even more players directly from the show floor and wrapped up the event with over 50 editors and creators getting their hands on the game. This allowed us to reach a wide spread of tier one media such as PCGamesN, Digital Trends and GameSpot, more niche outlets key for NSR’s target audience, such as Gamer Escape, TechRaptor and OK Beast, and tons of influencers creating a variety of gaming and music content.
Media and influencers were pretty jazzed about No Straight Roads. Some of our scheduled streamers even evangelized after meeting with us and brought their friends back to see the game, too! TheOnlyRyann was a big fan – he and JulzD4W sent back multiple rounds of additional creators to try out our demo. After the show, we got some great PAX recap stream discussions with creators such as InexpensiveGamer.
Once PAX wrapped, we made sure to keep in touch with press to secure impressions and roundup coverage. We locked in some great hits with media including GameSpot, DualShockers, Bleeding Cool, TechRaptor, a solo impressions piece and “best of PAX” roundup with KnowTechie, Noisy Pixel, Operation Rainfall and Rectify Gaming.
On the consumer front, we introduced NSR to thousands of PAX attendees over the four show days. We hooked in as many people walking by as possible to give them the short and sweet pitch, and it was usually hard for them not to smile or chuckle once we hit them with the game’s “indie rockers taking on an EDM empire” concept. We encouraged everyone to try it out for themselves, and made sure to spread the word verbally and with fliers about NSR’s preorder availability at retail and through the Epic Games Store as a key call to action.
So, yeah. After giving over 50 new editors and influencers devoted hands-on time with NSR to get it on their radar for next year’s launch, securing coverage from those appointments, and introducing the game to thousands of consumers and spreading word of the game’s pre-purchase availability, we’d say PAX West was a resounding success.
With NSR’s release coming right around the 2020 corner, there’s tons more we’re excited to share about the game. Encore! 🎵 Don’t forget to check out some of our top NSR coverage from PAX West in the meantime:
BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE…
If you can’t get enough PAX goodness and want an extra juicy scoop on how we conquered some major behind-the-scenes hurdles, check out this accompanying blog. Last-minute emergencies and live events go hand-in-hand, but we know the importance of staying cool under pressure and getting sh*t done in those circumstances.