The Challenge
For anyone working in video game PR, trade show season is both the most important and the most stressful time of the year. Events like gamescom, GDC and PAX bring together thousands of journalists, content creators and influencers - and for publishers and PR agencies, securing the right appointments with the right media is critical.
The traditional approach, such as shared spreadsheets, chased RSVPs and manually coordinated schedules has long been the industry norm, but as the scale and complexity of these events grow, so do the cracks in that approach.
For Plaion, the challenge at gamescom 2025 was clear: four different companies, multiple titles, one massive booth.
The Pain
For any company, organising a media event is a massive undertaking. Here are some of the common pain points.
Shared spreadsheets break down fast under hundreds of appointments, multiple titles and overlapping schedules; especially when several teams are editing simultaneously.
Chasing confirmations over long email chains, manually logging responses on a spreadsheet, and keeping attendees updated, is a full-time job in itself. All before the event has even started.
Publishers showing several titles across one booth face a difficult scheduling problem, and a check-in process involving printouts and handwritten notes - all to make sure the right person gets to the right appointment.
Without automated check-in and post-event reporting, following up relies on manual notes taken at the time, and those people who didn't attend can slip through the net entirely.
The Solution
PressEngine's Event Management feature was designed from the ground up for exactly this kind of complexity - giving publishers, developers and PR agencies a single place to manage every stage of an event, from the first invitation to the last follow-up.
Send event invitations via targeted outreach campaigns to over 4,500 verified opt-in press and influencers. Every outcome is logged, so you can see instantly who's accepted and who hasn't.
A shareable event URL and personal 1:1 invitations for VIP contacts mean you can give those special contacts that extra flourish by organising their appointments for them.
Manage multiple booths, rooms or locations from a single view. Reschedule on the fly, block time, set appointment lengths and capacity, and ask pre-event questions to ensure every meeting is as productive as possible.
For gamescom, GDC, PAX and more, press and influencers see your appointments as part of their wider event schedule - dramatically reducing clashes, confusion and no-shows.
Add your NDA and embargo details directly to the invite process and have attendees accept your requirements at check-in or at the invite stage. Full reporting and ability to confirm at each step.
Link your event schedule to most popular calendar apps and have it updated in near-real-time when appointments are confirmed. Share your schedule with your own client, or with other teams to help manage the appointments.
Attendees tap in their registered email at the booth; the app finds their appointment and sends instant confirmation to both parties. Run an unhosted front desk or simply take the stress out of a busy show floor.
Make your event visible on the PressEngine platform so verified press and influencers can discover and request access, giving you complete control over who attends while maximising discoverability.
Attendance reports are generated automatically, making it easy to send follow-up material to those who attended and to engage those who missed their slot with targeted campaigns.
CLIENT FEEDBACK
Every year PLAION has a huge challenge in managing the hundreds of press appointments we have at Gamescom, with 2025 proving to be even more complicated with 4 different companies showing 8 titles at the same time on our booth. Managing these appointments on a shared spreadsheet would have been impossible to keep track of, but thankfully PressEngine came to our rescue!
The PressEngine team not only provided a solution to booking appointments, they were constantly looking at ways to develop new features to make our lives easier - even on site during the event! We're excited to continue working with the team on future projects as the service and cooperation has been absolutely fantastic.
Plaion have been using PressEngine since June 2025.
Josh Winward
Head of Events, Plaion
"PressEngine is an essential tool for us. From press release and code distribution to event management, the platform makes our lives easier and helps us deliver faster for our clients.”
Stefano Petrullo
Founder at Renaissance PR
Renaissance PR have been using PressEngine since May 2020.
"Our agency frequently utilizes PressEngine to secure consistent press coverage. Their latest feature, which allows users to book press appointments at major tradeshows, is a fantastic bonus.”
Mario Kroll
Founder, ÜberStrategist
ÜberStrategist have been using PressEngine since October 2020.
THE RESULTS
PressEngine Events launched just four weeks before gamescom 2024 - and the response was immediate. In that short window, the platform confirmed nearly 800 press appointments for companies including Atari, Owlcat Games, Nordcurrent, Amazing Seasun Games, Victura, UberStrategist and many more.
2025 saw us build on the success of 2024 by doubling our confirmed appointments and led to some high-profile events being managed entirely through PressEngine - including Triple-A titles such as 007 First Light and Lego Batman.
The platform handled everything from initial invitations through to on-site check-in, giving every team a single view of their schedule and freeing up staff to focus on the meetings themselves rather than the logistics around them.
We asked press and content creators, who attended gamescom 2025, for their feedback and thoughts on how PressEngine performed - and their feedback was immediate and enthusiastic. They give us a score of 4.6 out of 5 for how easy it was to use the Events feature, and 92% said they'd recommend all publishers, developers and PR Agencies in video games to use PressEngine to manage their events.
Here's what some of the press and influencers who attended had to say:
It's one of a kind (at least what I saw) and I think it's a wonderful idea, more companies should use that.
It was beautiful, practical, and easy to use. Thank you for everything.
Thank you for creating such an awesome product. I really appreciate that someone took on the heavy lifting of organising media appointments.
Fun fact from gamescom 2024: The busiest appointment slot was 1pm on Wednesday. But Friday proved busier than Wednesday overall - so everyone who left early to catch their flight home missed out on more appointments than they realised. Data like this from PressEngine's platform helps publishers plan smarter at every future event.
RECOGNITION
Event Management is one part of an all-in-one PR toolkit recognised at the top of the video games industry.
Trusted by great brands and more
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