Blog · Behind the scenes
Solo dev notes
One press release email, one article in Taiwan: the email, the article side by side, and 8 days of traffic
At 1:23 a.m. KST on October 15, 2026, we sent one email in Traditional Chinese to the public tip address of Bahamut GNN, a Taiwanese games news site. The article went up the same day at 11:59 a.m. Taiwan time. New users from Taiwan and Hong Kong hit 393 that day, 211 the next day and 7 a week later on October 22. Of the 157 Taiwanese players who first opened the app that day, 3 (about 2%) were still playing on day 7.
The email was short
Most guides on how to write a press release tell you to send a long document with a company boilerplate, a quote from the founder, high resolution images and an embargo date. Our email had none of those. It was one line of greeting, one intro paragraph, five bullets and links. Zero attachments.
It went to one place: the public tip address of the Bahamut GNN editorial desk, at 1:23 a.m. KST on October 15, written in Traditional Chinese. The table below follows the email from top to bottom.
| Part | What we wrote | Did it make the article? |
|---|---|---|
| Subject line | «網咖養成大亨：免費放置型網咖經營遊戲（iOS、Android、網頁，支援 8 種語言）», roughly “Internet Cafe Tycoon: a free idle internet cafe management game (iOS, Android, web, 8 languages).” Price, platforms and language count in one line | The reporter wrote a new headline |
| Greeting | One line | No |
| Intro paragraph | Free on iOS and Android, playable in a browser without installing, Traditional Chinese UI | The first paragraph of the article is almost the same sentence |
| 5 bullets | Start with 6 seats / ramen stations and drink machines sell more the closer they sit to the seats, and customers can't get through if you block the aisle / part-timers keep the shop running after you close the app / 8 languages / free, and watching an ad at settlement doubles that day's earnings | The article used our store description instead of the bullets |
| Sign-off | No embargo; screenshots and video sent right away on request | No |
| Links | Store pages and the browser version | Web, iOS and Android tags appeared above the article |
What the reporter used: the email's intro and our store page
We compared the article with our own text line by line. The first paragraph is nearly the same sentence as the intro paragraph in the email. Below it sits a box marked «以下內容為廠商提供資料原文» (“the following is the original material provided by the company”). What fills that box is not the email. It is our Traditional Chinese description from Google Play, the one that opens with «叔叔留下的那間快倒閉的巷弄網咖，從今天起由貓老闆接手…» (“The back-alley internet cafe your uncle left behind, about to go under, is in the cat boss's hands from today…”).
We didn't send the photos either. With no attachments, the reporter picked the night earnings screen and the seat layout screen from our Traditional Chinese App Store screenshots. So the part that worked as the press release was the Traditional Chinese store page. The email only knocked on the door.
The 119 emails before it got zero articles
Before the GNN email, we sent 119 emails between October 9 and 14: 116 pitches to YouTubers and 3 to outlets (Pocket Gamer, gamebiz and Gamek). None of them led to an article.
After GNN, first emails went out to 98 outlets in 8 languages by October 22. Two ran a story: GNN on October 15 and Game Chosun on October 18. A third batch of 22 outlets in Thailand, Brazil, Türkiye, Germany, France, Spain and the Middle East went out on October 16, and when we checked on October 20 it had brought zero articles, zero replies and zero visits from press links. On October 22, emails went to 4Gamers (Taiwan) and VJGamer (Hong Kong), plus a new one to Bahamut about our Korean spa game. No results yet.
Traffic halved in a day
These are new users from GA4, with the Internet Cafe Tycoon apps and web version added together. In the week before the article (October 8 to 14), Taiwan sent 0 to 5 new users a day.
Our last monthly report said Android new users went from 7 to 124. That counted the Android app only. The table below adds every app and the web version, so the numbers are bigger.
| Date | Taiwan | Hong Kong | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 14 | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| Oct 15 (article) | 327 | 66 | 393 |
| Oct 16 | 165 | 46 | 211 |
| Oct 17 | 75 | 13 | 88 |
| Oct 18 | 62 | 12 | 74 |
| Oct 19 | 34 | 5 | 39 |
| Oct 20 | 17 | 6 | 23 |
| Oct 21 | 17 | 2 | 19 |
| Oct 22 | 4 | 3 | 7 |
| 8-day total | 701 | 153 | 854 |
Who stayed, and what it earned
157 players in Taiwan opened the app (Android and iOS) for the first time on October 15. 52 (33%) came back the next day, 15 on day 2, 9 on day 3 and 3 (about 2%) on day 7.
The money came on the day of the article. AdMob showed estimated earnings of ₩62,181 for October 15 alone, mostly from Taiwan, before final settlement. When we checked the AdMob report again on October 20, Taiwan's ad earnings came to about $126 in total. The game has one ad: an optional one at settlement that doubles that day's earnings.
Where this falls short
- The sample is one article. We don't know if the same email would land anywhere else, and so far 2 of 98 outlets have run a story.
- We don't know why GNN ran it. Their editorial criteria aren't public, and the timing may simply have suited the desk that day.
- Only 2% were still around on day 7. We can't say the article brought players who stayed.
- It only worked in Taiwan (and Hong Kong), where we had already polished the Traditional Chinese store page. The 22 outlets in the third batch didn't respond at all.
What we're keeping for the next email
Before writing a longer email, we fix the store page in that country's language. What the reporter actually copied was the store description and screenshots.
The subject line says it's free, which platforms and how many languages. No attachments, just “sent right away on request.” One line saying there's no embargo. The emails to 4Gamers and VJGamer use the same template, and we'll add their results here when they come in.
FAQ
How long should an indie game press release be?
In our one case, a short email became an article. We sent one intro paragraph, five bullets and links, and the reporter used the intro paragraph plus our store description.
Should I attach screenshots to a game press release email?
This email had zero attachments and only said screenshots would be sent on request. The reporter picked the article photos from our Traditional Chinese App Store screenshots.
How long after sending a press release does the article come out?
Our email to GNN went out at 1:23 a.m. KST and the article was up at 12:59 p.m. KST (11:59 a.m. Taiwan time) the same day, about 11 and a half hours later. But of the 98 outlets we emailed by October 22, only two ran a story.
How much traffic does one game article bring?
For us, new users from Taiwan and Hong Kong were 393 on the day of the article and 211 the next day, then fell to 7 a week later, close to where they were before. The 8-day total was 854.
More from the blog
ComparisonOnsen and bathhouse games: 8 compared by what the store pages sayOnsen and bathhouse games from Steam, Google Play and the App Store in one table: price, rating, idle or not, Korean and Japanese support, plus the weak spots of our own game.
ComparisonIdle tycoon games that work offline: 8 picks sorted by store labelsWhich idle tycoon games work offline? Google Play tag, store wording, list price and ads in one table, plus our own game's weak spots.
Games likeFinished Kairosoft? 14 games to play next, sorted by what you lovedIf you have played through Kairosoft, here are 14 games sorted into four flavors: short grow-it sessions, running a shop, watching residents live, and layout puzzles. Steam list prices, review scores and UI languages checked by hand.
Games likeGames like Game Dev Story: 7 Kairosoft alternatives worth playing nextGames like Game Dev Story and Kairosoft alternatives on Steam, iOS and Android, with price, ratings and language support in one table.