Getting Personal With PR: Interviewing TriplePoint's Paul Lombardo

In the four years I've been privileged to work with the team here at SUPERJUMP, we've seen several of our writers take jobs in the games industry. One of the most recent to do such is Paul Lombardo, who has written on our pages since 2021. Paul has gone on to work for the PR firm TriplePoint, which specializes in strategic communications, public relations, and influencer marketing, with clients ranging from Blizzard to Paradox to Quantic Dream, and many more.

I've always found PR to be one of the less transparent parts of the game release cycle. Plus, we're always keen to examine various pathways into the gaming industry, so I wanted to pick Paul's brain about what PR actually does, what his job entails, and how he got to this place in his career. In this interview, we'll get into all that and much more. Enjoy!

SUPERJUMP

Thank you for making time to sit down with us, Paul. I know you from your work with SUPERJUMP over the years, but let’s start by having you bring the audience up to speed on who you are, your background in gaming, and what you’ve done recently that led to this interview.

Paul Lombardo

Super happy to sit down and chat with you, Bryan. For sure! I’m a recent graduate of the University of Florida, where I earned a BS in Journalism. While I was in university, I freelanced online in the games journalism sphere, writing stories for sites like SUPERJUMP on my favorite titles. The best thing about SUPERJUMP was that I could spill my thoughts onto a document and someone would help me edit and publish – so I rambled. I wrote about the philosophies of games like NieR, Persona, and a bunch of other awesome games. Eventually, I began to expand and do news, reviews, and guides for various sites, including TechRaptor, TheGamer, and IGN! Finally, after graduating, I made my way to PR, where I am now.

SUPERJUMP

How did you find your way to working with TriplePoint? Was PR always on your radar or did you come upon it unexpectedly?

Paul

Toward the end of my time in college, I made friends in my university’s gaming club: Gator Gaming. There were a few comms folks in there and, at the time, I hadn’t considered a career in PR, but my good friend, Jeni, was a stellar PR student who inspired me to chase this field of communications down. I always wanted to be on the other side of the fence (I.E., working for a development studio), and this was a way for me to leverage my journalism experience and industry expertise to do so. I cold-called various PR agencies, met at PAX East with TriplePoint, and re-interviewed a year later after graduating. The rest is history!

SUPERJUMP

I’d wager that most fans find PR to be one of the more mysterious, and perhaps misunderstood, parts of the process that brings a game to market. Can you help us dispel some of that mystery and tell us what TriplePoint does for developers and publishers?

Paul

Sure! A big part of any communications job, as I’m sure you’re aware, is who you know. Making connections at industry events, whether it be developer-focused events like GDC or consumer-facing events like PAX East, is one way we make connections with folks and start working with new developers.

As for what we do, I always explain it like this: if you see a story up for Overwatch on IGN, we were likely part of making that happen. Whether it’s connecting IGN with a spokesperson for comment, or pitching that journalist for a story, we were the bridge between developers and media; thus, media relations.

To our clients, it’s a simpler story: we earn media through our day-to-day and get developer’s games in front of more people. There’s much more nuance, of course, but generally, my job is to make sure my client sees an article go up from a journalist, and that journalist is satisfied from working with me. Personally, the relationship building here between journalists and myself is the most satisfying part of the job. I love helping put awesome video games in front of people and I love when I make a journalist’s job easy.

SUPERJUMP

Tell us about a day in the life of Paul Lombardo, Account Coordinator.

Paul

Beyond reading industry news and keeping up with gaming trends, I’m always maintaining email threads between myself, my clients, and journalists. A good bit of research is part of the job too, whether that be researching a publication to see if they’d be interested in covering a game or not, and brainstorming on what kind of stories I can pitch with any given title. There are a lot of tactical ongoings that aren’t as interesting to get into, such as media lists, coverage reports, news audits, and PR plan decks, but generally, my day-to-day is about building relationships, pitching stories, running review campaigns, and contributing to strategy.

SUPERJUMP

Working with two different gaming publications/sites, I see the frequent frustration from creators over working with PR, heavily concentrated in the area of requesting game codes for review. Emails are often not returned, codes for games are often issued seemingly at random with smaller creators getting them and larger sites with more viewership not, etc. Can you shed any light on that part of the system and how it works?

Paul

A big reason why I love TriplePoint – and I was just discussing this with a colleague – is that my teammates value building relationships with journalists. There are a lot of reasons why certain creators/journalists may not get codes, but one thing I value when I’m communicating with a journalist is transparency. More often than not, codes are very limited, and we have to make difficult decisions to distribute to those who are most excited about a game. Regardless, transparency goes SUCH a long way, and letting someone know that the reason they haven’t gotten a code is because of limited access is important to me. It’s mutually beneficial to be transparent, too, because oftentimes I’ll receive the same transparency back.

PR folks get ghosted too – and as someone who has been on both sides of the fence – I’d argue it’s even more common for us to be. So when a journalist responds as to why they can’t cover something, even if it’s simply “we don’t have the bandwidth,” it’s valuable intel! This back-and-forth of information helps us both do our jobs better – and that only comes with trust, which comes from a relationship. I think that’s what makes a great PR agent and a happy journalist.

As another point, code distribution processes are complicated and always different. Every publisher/developer handles key distribution differently and some platforms are more complicated than others. As I mentioned before, code access is limited because there’s almost always a big demand, especially for big releases. My inbox can fill up pretty quickly daily, which ultimately is the biggest reason why I may miss your email.

SUPERJUMP

Why are review codes limited? The view I've seen and heard from others is that these are just digital copies of the game, there's no scarcity, so why the limitation? It would seem that more people reviewing the game is better so high demand seems like a good problem.

Paul

From a PR person's end, I'm given a set list of codes from developers to distribute. Once we run out of those codes, the developer has to go through a process to "generate more," and generally we've tried to avoid that unless there's an immense demand for more review coverage. Long story short, it's not as simple as "this is a digital game so we have unlimited copies to hand out," but it makes sense why many people have that understanding.

SUPERJUMP

You mention how to make it more likely to get a code by email, but if a publication or reviewer is using a service like Press Engine or Keymailer, there isn't necessarily the opportunity to have that back and forth. In those cases is there anything you look for other than prior articles about a game or series?

Paul

When developers use key-distribution services, it's a bit trickier but we still weigh creators/writers on scales of who might enjoy reviewing our games more. I think for most of these services there are opportunities to write out a "why you should choose me for a code" when applying, but in the event that there isn't, I would recommend trying to find who is managing a campaign and reaching out to them. You may get referred to the key distribution site but it still gives you an opportunity to explain who you are and why you should receive a code.

SUPERJUMP

What would you recommend creators and publications might do (or do differently) to smooth the road when communicating with PR and requesting game codes for review? I can only imagine how inundated PR firms might get, especially when big games get into their review window, but are there ways to grease the skids, so to speak?

Paul

Resurfacing an ask for a code is A-OKAY, and 9/10 times the reason I haven’t responded is because things are happening behind the scenes and the process is moving along. It’s important to remember that code access is NEVER guaranteed, and often that simply may be because hands are tied by XY and Z.

But as a secret, there is a way to make it much more likely for you to get a code. Express your interest in the game! When I wanted to review Trails into Reverie for SUPERJUMP last year, I simply reached out to the PR team and expressed how I spent the better part of a year playing through the entire series. Tell a personal story in your email about your experience, link to previous or comparable coverage, and demonstrate that you’re a good fit to review. As a secondary bonus, this opens the door to future interviews, embargoed news, and other opportunities that come with the relationship. If I can point to coverage, interest, and excitement, a code will likely be greenlit for you!

SUPERJUMP

Do you see PR as something you will do long-term, or do you have aspirations to work in other parts of the gaming industry, and if so, what might those be?

Paul

I truly enjoy working in games PR. I love the industry and getting fired up with a passion for gaming alongside journalists and colleagues never gets old. I feel very fortunate to be in the position I’m in and I don’t see myself leaving anytime soon; the industry is going to have to drag me away kicking and screaming! If I were to work anywhere else in gaming, I’d love to dabble in development, more specifically on the creative side of putting together a story. But we all have an interest in that, don’t we?

SUPERJUMP

To wrap up, let’s find out what you’re currently playing, and what games you’re looking forward to playing in the coming months.

Paul

I’m dragging my heels through a Dark Souls II playthrough at the moment, wrapping up one of my very last FromSoftware games before I tap into Stellar Blade today (which I am STOKED for as a mega fan of NieR and Sekiro). I’m also nearing the end of Persona 3 Reload which is likely going to be my favorite game in the series. I’ve been rocking its music via Spotify and I still can’t believe ATLUS is putting out banger after banger.

As for the future…

The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak releases this summer and I couldn’t be more excited. I spent my last year in college blitzing through the entire JRPG series of The Legend of Heroes and it’s become one of my favorite series ever. JRPG fans: put this series on your radar.

We'd like to give Paul a big thanks for shedding light on what gaming PR is like and how the process works. Stay tuned to SUPERJUMP for more great interviews, reviews, and features!