It's not really cynical. It's perfectly normal that the general public doesn't care about each and every indie (until they get very well known). Lots of games are coming out and human mind can only focus on so many things at once. It doesn't mean you shouldn't do promotion as a small indie. Just that you shouldn't take example from the bigger studios. They are in a different situation.
By social networks I meant just twitter, facebook, and existing fans following your website. But it's really up to you.
Personal experience tells me that silent launch followed by a big press push works best and is the safest. If you want specific examples, here's how I did it with Cinders:
- After leaving my last job, we started a new website for our team and notified my existing press contacts that we're full-time indie now. This was to get some initial traction -- get people to check the website, like our facebook, twitter, etc. Also to notify our former fans that we're doing something new.
- When I announced the game, I contacted the press again. Same reasons as before -- get some more initial traction.
- Went into silent mode for most of the development. Worked on the game and didn't promote it outside of our inner circles of fans. This is important as you are risking losing trust at this point. If you tell the press that your game is almost finished and then it gets delayed (it always does), they may either forget about it or assume it's vaporware.
- Launched pre-orders for the game. Didn't contact the press. Only fans. Press doesn't like when you spam them, especially with deals on games they can't check yet. You don't want to land on their "this guy's a spammer" list.
- When the game was done, we delivered it to the pre-order owners at first. We've let them play it for a week before the official release. If you have enough pre-orders, that's even better than doing a public silent launch. It was a good idea, as we've found out the game still had problems at that point. Pre-order owners knew they are getting it earlier than the rest, so they were very patient and understanding. But if we released it to the public and the press at that point, it could affect their opinion negatively.
- We fixed all the problems. Corrected typos, removed some bugs, tweaked some values. Made sure the press and general public are getting our best. You have only one chance at making the first impression. I learned it the hard way when I released my Magi seven years ago.
- The game was officially released. I waited a day or two before contacting the press. Just to be sure there aren't any new problems that could ruin the experience.
- I first contacted the outlets that I had the best connection with. Either they knew me from my former work or we were on good terms in general. When they published their articles, it gave me some "social proof". Very useful in contacting outlets that you don't have existing relationship with. "Hey look, an indie game" sometimes doesn't work. "Hey look, an indie game that indiegames.com wrote good things about" usually works better.
- First reviews also got us some attention by themselves. For example, I never contacted Kotaku, but they featured the game.
- A month later, I started contacting any outlets that I missed during the first big push. This time, I had a whole bunch of social proof I could rely on, with some good names recommending people to play the game. Worked pretty okay. Most journalists didn't mind it's a month-old title.
I released and promoted 7 games in total during my career, and this is what I came to consider as the most efficient way. Also, from checking website analytics at my former job and during my current indie endeavors, I know that most people who visit the website after reading a review, stay only for a very short time. If they can't find a demo, they mostly leave to never return again.
Let me know if you have any more questions -- I'm always happy to help
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