Interview with Jesse Lennox from Inari PR & Consulting

The world of games is changing fast. Editorial teams are shrinking, algorithms increasingly decide what gets seen, and small teams have to fight harder than ever to get attention. In that tangle of releases and noise, one person stands out who understands both sides of the playing field: Jesse Lennox.

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Jesse started in 2010 as a volunteer games journalist, moved into the professional editorial world and eventually became Gaming Section Lead at several outlets. He knows the press side inside out. In 2025 he decided to use that experience for a new goal: a PR agency that gives indie developers a fair shot.

With Inari PR & Consulting, Jesse focuses on teams that do not have a big budget but do have a strong story. His philosophy is simple. Games are art. PR should be human. And real visibility only happens when developers and media understand each other.

This interview shows how he is trying to build that bridge.

Jesse, you spent years writing about games before moving into PR. What was the moment when you felt this was the direction you needed to take?

The gaming media landscape has changed a lot since I first started in 2010. What pushed me to feel it was time to shift my focus to PR was a mixture of how the media itself has changed in the last few years, but also how I have changed. In terms of the media landscape, it is no secret that we're seeing a massive amount of shrinkage. Hundreds of writers, freelance and staff, are being let go from major outlets on a regular basis, and entire publications are being gutted or shut down. This is all due to the nature of how the search algorithms have been changing, plus how AI scraping is impacting traffic. In aggregate, this pushes sites to be far more risk-averse with their coverage, reduce rates, and treat writers and staff with little to no respect for the craft and only care about numbers. Personally, the outlet I was at for over half a decade laid off about 80% of its staff at the start of this year, then all but a handful of freelancers a few months later. While I survived both purges, they were (and still are at the time of this writing) behind on paying myself and dozens of writers for work done over six months ago.

Beyond the uncertain nature of games media right now, I always felt my most important work was highlighting undiscovered games for a wider audience. I wrote an article a little over a year ago highlighting how difficult it is for an indie game to find an audience when dozens, if not hundreds, of other games are releasing every day of the year. When the focus at my outlet became so restrictive on what types of games and news I could cover, I felt it had lost the heart of what made it special. That's why starting a PR company specifically focused on spotlighting smaller games that normally don't have the budget or reach to break through the noise was what I was meant to do.

Which values or principles from your time as a games journalist do you consciously carry into your work as a PR founder?

My time as a journalist taught me way too many lessons to count, but the most important ones I feel are nuance, honesty, and humanity. Having been on the other side, I can speak candidly to my PR clients about realistic outcomes and measures for success with their games. Will we try and get the likes of IGN and GameSpot to cover our games? Of course, but in most cases we shouldn't count on it. In addition to casting a wide net, I mainly focus on reaching out to peers on a personal level. Just like being a journalist, I pride myself on doing the legwork to get real coverage, not just a site that will copy/paste a press release.

You often say small teams struggle to be seen. What hits you personally about that struggle?

For the first time, we live in a time where it is impossible to play every amazing game. Even if one were to just focus on AAA releases, it would be more than a full-time job to keep up. So much oxygen is taken up by these big games that, in many cases, play things safe to be as broadly appealing as possible. Nothing kills me more than seeing small or solo devs put their hearts into a game but have it fall through the cracks because the latest yearly release of some AAA franchise is dominating the press cycle. I believe passion, dedication, and risk should be rewarded.

What drives you to represent indie developers, even though working with bigger studios would be commercially easier?

Indie developers are the lifeblood of the industry. This is where the innovation in genre, mechanics, visual style, storytelling, and more is coming from. While I could run a much more successful business representing larger studios willing to drop thousands of dollars into marketing a game that would probably succeed either way, there are plenty of other PR agencies out there already serving that space. I feel far more fulfilled offering the same level of representation to developers who are otherwise priced out of PR at all. Plus, the indie scene is far more creative and offers a lot more opportunities to do more unique marketing strategies.

While it isn't something I can do this early on, a goal I have set for myself once Inari PR is established and able to sustain itself is to offer free PR to one indie game a quarter that I believe in that has no marketing budget as a way to support a healthy and growing indie scene.

How have your experiences with deadlines, embargoes and editorial pressure shaped your vision of what good PR should be?

Knowing the media side has been paramount in guiding my PR practice. While each outlet does operate slightly differently, there are a lot of rules of thumb to follow that a good PR agency needs to know in order to succeed. I structure all my PR campaigns in such a way that creates no friction for journalists and in such a way that stands out from the onslaught of marketing material they receive every day. At the same time, I understand that there are times when coverage simply isn't in the cards for one reason or another, despite having a strong relationship with a person or outlet. It all comes down to communication. Good PR means being an excellent communicator with the media, but also being able to explain the inner workings to developers to set proper expectations.

Journalism requires independence, while PR requires strongly advocating for your client. How do you personally balance those two worlds?

From my experience, journalism and PR have a somewhat equal balance of independence and collaboration. Whether as a freelancer, writer, editor, or section lead, journalists are constantly in communication with one another. We're always discussing news, games, ideas, reviews, and everything else before sequestering ourselves to do the actual writing. And then we come back to get feedback and fine-tune our work.

In terms of PR, there's a similar balance. Proper PR means more than just understanding a developer's vision and passion, but sharing in it. I make sure that my initial meetings with a client are focused on feeling that passion so that I can create materials that are authentically enthusiastic about the project. One of the primary goals of PR, in my mind, is being able to become a game's biggest advocate and own that messaging so that the developers can put their full attention on crafting the game.

You proudly describe yourself as a total dork. How does your personality, not just your expertise, help you build relationships with media and developers?

Haha, I do indeed describe myself that way! I loathe how business-y the games industry can be at times. Yes, it is a major business, but we're gamers at heart and should wear that on our sleeves. Those who treat games purely as a business have either lost their love for the medium or never had it in the first place. Devs and journalists are hardcore fans, so why would either side want to work with someone who didn't love the medium just as much? I respect games as an art form above all else, and my guiding principle as a journalist was to talk about games as art, not as a product. I carry that mentality forward into PR. I could have all the experience in the world, but lasting relationships with media and developers are built on personality. I want developers to feel that I'm in their corner because I care, not just because I'm getting paid. My goal is to build long-lasting working relationships on both sides, and that can only happen by being my authentic self.

Looking ahead to the coming years, what motivates you most to grow Inari PR & Consulting in an industry that is changing so quickly?

We're on the cusp of a lot of big changes in the gaming industry, but all of them make me more confident that Inari PR & Consulting is poised to thrive. So many things we're seeing in the AAA space, like a heavy reliance on AI, an abundance of remakes, remasters, reboots, and sequels, and the inflated development time and budget that necessitate mass appeal, feel antithetical to following a strong artistic vision for games that truly resonate with audiences. I believe audiences want unique, risky games that don't speak to everyone broadly, but a select group very strongly. Those games have, and will continue to be found in the indie space, and I want Inari PR to be a champion for those games.

The industry has changed considerably over the last few years and will only continue to do so. What I believe will always be a constant is the need for passion projects that don't follow trends, but break them. Bringing those games to the forefront and rewarding creativity and a healthy development process in whatever way I can is the least I can do for this medium I love.

Afterword

Jesse, thank you for your time and openness. Your insights are valuable to anyone working in games media, and your commitment to supporting indie developers is truly appreciated. I wish you all the best with the continued growth of Inari PR and the projects you will take on in the future. The industry benefits from professionals like you.

Thanks, Sander

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Date: November 27, 2025