PR

Since Frictional Games is a small company, it didn’t have a dedicated PR team. The ones working on PR were the two executives and me; they made the high-level decisions, and I made schedules, organised people, and did part of the production myself. I also communicated to an external PR company which handles press relations, key seeding, and some of the trailer work.

My biggest project was the announcement of Amnesia: Rebirth. Here are some of the PR-related things I handled:

• NextFrictionalGame.com/AmnesiaRebirth.com. Came up with the idea of putting up a growing embryo to generate hype. Designed the site and communicated it to our IT provider. Coordinated with the artist for the baby, including providing references.
• Fragments. Fragments are weekly small clips related to the game, meant to generate hype. My responsibility was to coordinate (sound designer, PR partner, artists) and post all of them, but I also ended up shooting one of them, and editing the others. To find the fragments, fans had to solve ARG-like clues from ciphers to jigsaw puzzles, which were all designed by me. You can follow the ARG along on a fan-made GameDetectives wiki.
• Box art. Scheduled production, communicated needs for different assets, contributed to the overall look. After completion, combined the box art and game title into different assets such as social media headers and storefront graphics.
• Trailers. I was part of the team brainstorming the trailers, and made a few of the shots seen in the final version. Also researched age rating markings and copyright notices for different versions.
• Press kit. Provided relevant materials like trailers and screenshots for both pre-seed and the general press kit. Collaborated on the press release/newsletter/blog post.
• Storefront descriptions. Researched and collaborated on informative but mysterious descriptions for Steam.
• Blogs. Collaborated with the CEO and copywrote a blog post for the PlayStation site.

Social media

Managing social media is less personal and more top-down. I handled all Frictional Games social media accounts with a disembodied voice, yet one that has personality.

Since I started working at Frictional Games I grew presence on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, as well as on storefronts such as Steam forums. These had not been monitored or managed, especially since the departure of a key person several years before my employment. During my time, I made sure that fans got responses on all these platforms.

I also launched several new platforms. The first was an Instagram page for an audience that wants a more human interest approach: updates on daily happenings of the office. After that I launched a Tumblr page where I actively collected and organised fan works from all different platforms. I also kept an eye out on the social media landscape, so the company could jump on appropriate platforms.

Frictional Games websites

Frictional Games had a website, which had not been updated for years. It also had a separate blog for announcements, blog posts, even job ads. They didn’t form a cohesive brand, so I fought to finally unify them and create a one-stop user experience with a singular brand and visual guidelines.

We met with a few companies to do the brand and website redesign with. I provided them with a concept, preferred structure, and audience analysis. Unfortunately these didn’t work out, so I took matters into my own hands.

In 3 months I came up with the visual style and structure, and transferred 378 posts from different platforms, making sure the images were right and the links worked. I also added new sections, such as a career page and FAQ pages to provide easier access to information. The new site was launched in December 2019.

I also designed the site for Amnesia: Rebirth, and communicated with the IT provider that executed it.

Aside from big changes, I also wrote, ghostwrote or edited every article on the site from 2018 to mid-2020.

Community management

Community management is specifically about engaging with fans and building a bridge between them and the development team.

The biggest project on this front was launching an official server on Discord – a much needed portal for fans to engage with the team and each other after the decline of forum usage. Here are some things I did:

• Research the unofficial fan server as well as other companies’ verified servers to note both good practices, and potential issues.
• Establish a line of communication with moderators of the fan server, map out the needs and issues of an official server with them.
• Screen and recruit admins and moderators both from the fan server and outside.
• Come up with channel structure that balances different topics without being bloated.
• Write encompassing and comprehensive rules for both members and moderators.
• Hold a post-launch survey (with almost entirely positive responses), implement changes wanted by the community.
• Take main responsibility for moderation, including clear violations and keeping an eye out for more vague cases.

Overall I acted as a part of the community, sharing exclusive photos from the office, participating in meta conversation, and just chatting with them – providing a human connection to the studio, even someone to make memes of.

One of the best things that has happened to me was establishing a connection with the more “edgy” members of the community, growing understanding, and one day seeing another user comment “Oh wait, [previously edgy user] is actually nice now?!” – I’m making a difference out there!

Player support

No game is perfect, but it was my job to make sure that players have the best experience they can.

I monitored the social media, external forums, and email for customer contacts. I either handled the requests myself, or coordinated with the tech team, who could look into the issues.

Before my departure, I was working together with the tech director to build a proper support pipeline that would ensure the connection between the players and the tech team, make sure the requests get handled, and build a knowledgebase that both the team and the players can use. This resulted in a Frictional Games support site.