Post
The diminishing returns of traditional press coverage as the indie release firehose outpaces any reviewer's throughput.
In 2010, being covered by Kotaku or RPS was a significant launch moment. In 2025, with 40+ Steam releases per day, traditional press simply cannot cover most games, and even the ones they do cover do not move the needle the way they used to. Indie marketers have shifted budget toward streamers, TikTok clips, and targeted Steam page optimization — press coverage is now a nice-to-have rather than a driver.
Example
Eurogamer, RPS, and Kotaku have all seen significant layoffs in the 2020s as the indie-press ecosystem contracted. Tools like Ghost Pirate and data from video coverage now outperform traditional reviews as sales drivers. The 'review score matters' era has effectively ended for most indies.
Why it matters
Press saturation is why indie marketing looks so different today than it did ten years ago. Understanding the shift informs budget allocation and helps devs avoid wasting resources chasing media hits that no longer move units.
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