#1 Spot on Steam's Popular Upcoming

Indie developer Weyrdworks came to UberStrategist for PR support in launching their productivity-focused virtual pet sim, Weyrdlets. Over three months, we aimed to leverage press coverage to generate wishlists, building a strong foundation for future updates.

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With little time before launch, press opportunities were limited. As a free-to-play indie game debuting during the busy summer announcement period, press availability was tight. Despite the time crunch and competition from bigger-budget titles, we were determined to make Weyrdlets’ launch as impactful as possible.

We established a positioning strategy that could compete with popular wholesome titles, highlighting Weyrdlets’ cozy pet care and home decor gameplay. Pitched as an Animal Crossing-meets-Tamagotchi title, we also emphasized its productivity features to engage press.

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To maximize visibility, we planned key news beats: a demo launch, a release date reveal on Steam Next Fest’s opening day, and preview pitching to drive coverage. In the final stretch, we focused on securing reviews ahead of launch.

As a result, we secured major Tier 1 coverage from outlets such as GameSpot, Eurogamer, GAMINGbible, The Escapist, Rock Paper Shotgun, and NME. From our guide and interview pitching, we also obtained 11 pieces of coverage from TheGamer and an interview with Kotaku.

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Weyrdlets generated enough wishlists through press coverage to reach the #1 spot on Steam’s “Popular Upcoming” chart, a hugely significant achievement that begets even more wishlists.