A draft says a publishing deal is signed. The announcement says only that the companies are in talks. Before the post goes live, an editor needs to check the deal’s status, confirm what can be reported, and decide whether the story is ready. The same process should catch a broken contact link, an event photo without a credit, or a job opening that closed yesterday. Publishing depends on a series of decisions, each with an owner.
A small publication or studio does not need a large editorial team to manage those decisions. It needs visible stages, a few checks that cannot be skipped, and a way to track which version has been approved.
Start with a publishable brief
Record the angle in a shared brief before drafting. For a developer–publisher partnership, the focus might be the scope of the agreement rather than a profile of both companies. Note the intended reader, the question the post will answer, the sources to consult, the format, and who will approve it. Set a publication date only after checking whether the information is public and whether an embargo applies.
A short brief can still settle choices that are costly to reverse. Is this a new announcement, an explanation of an existing deal, or practical advice? Will it name individuals or include financial terms? Does another party need a chance to respond? The answers shape the reporting and the time needed for review. If the angle changes, update the brief so the assignment and draft still describe the same story.
Give each post a clear status
A queue might use briefed, reporting, drafting, fact-check, edit, approved, scheduled, published. Keep blocked as a separate status, with a reason and an owner: perhaps a quote, usage permission, or confirmation of a deal term is still pending. “Approved” should mean substantive edits are complete, not that a manager opened the file. Otherwise, a post can reach the schedule while a key source has yet to reply.
Keep one canonical draft and a change log for important decisions. Comments are useful for questions during drafting; resolved facts belong in the copy or a source note. If a spokesperson corrects a company name, record who supplied the correction and when. That record matters when another editor takes over near deadline.
Report and verify before polishing
Distinguish what a source claims from what the publication can establish. A press release may confirm that a company announced an investment without establishing its final value or whether funds have been transferred. An event organizer can provide an attendance figure, but attribute it unless the publication has verified it independently. Make those distinctions in the draft, not at the final copy pass.
Keep a source note for claims that could affect reputations or business decisions. Record where each claim came from, when it was checked, any conditions on its use, and the sentence or section it supports. Give priority to deal status, investment amounts, launch timing, territories, platform availability, employment claims, and quotations. These details can change quickly and matter to studios, publishers, candidates, and investors.
For interviews, confirm the speaker’s name, role, company, and whether the remarks were on the record. Someone’s account of a meeting does not confirm that it led to a contract. In coverage of an annual industry networking event, distinguish meetings held at the event from later negotiations and agreements announced publicly afterward. If a material question remains unanswered, say so or hold the post.
Build safeguards into the assignment
- Rights: Record who supplied each photo, chart, screenshot, or quotation and what permission covers its publication. Having access to an asset does not grant permission to use it.
- Disclosures: Identify sponsorship, paid travel, or a commercial relationship that could affect how readers interpret the coverage.
- Privacy: Check consent before publishing private contact details or a job candidate’s personal information.
- Game-specific context: If a post recommends or discusses playing a particular game, check its age rating in the named region; a rating from one market does not apply everywhere. Where advice covers play habits, include a reminder about a healthy balance of screen time rather than attaching one to every business report.
Edit for accuracy, then for usefulness
Handle substantive edits before polishing the headline. Does the lead state the most important supported fact? Does the article explain why it matters, and can readers tell reporting from analysis? Saying a partnership will “open the global market” calls for evidence about distribution territories and commitments. Without it, describe the companies’ stated plans more narrowly.
Next, look at where the information sits. A reader seeking the terms of a publishing agreement should find them before several paragraphs of company history. Put confirmed terms near the top, followed by context, open questions, and practical implications. In a hiring story, make verified, public details about roles, locations, work arrangements, and application status easy to find. Cut background that does not help explain the news.
Editors need the authority to send a draft back for more reporting. Copyediting can smooth a sentence; it cannot verify an unsupported claim. After substantive editing, make a separate pass over spelling, names, dates, numbers, quotations, attribution, and consistency between headline and body. If the headline says a deal is signed, the story must establish that it is.
Prepare the page as a publication, not a document
Moving copy into a content management system introduces its own errors. Set the title, URL slug, category, author, publication date, and excerpt deliberately. Preview desktop and mobile layouts. Check the heading hierarchy, lists, captions, and tables on a narrow screen. Alt text should describe information the image conveys, not repeat the headline or add keywords.
Check links separately. Does each internal link lead to the page described? Does outbound sourcing follow publication policy? Does a call to action point to a form that is still open? If readers are asked to contact a studio after an event, make the destination and next step clear. For more on that decision, see Writing Better Calls to Action for Game Studio Websites and Event Follow-Ups.
For a fast-moving announcement, add an “as of” date if its status may change. An old event photo must not appear to show the current event. Preview social sharing text as carefully as the page headline: a shortened description can drop an essential qualifier such as “proposed” or “reportedly.”
Use a release check with named owners
The writer can handle most checks, though a second person should review high-risk claims when the team has capacity. A compact pre-publication record keeps responsibility clear without making every post a lengthy approval exercise:
- Check the final text against the latest source notes and record unresolved uncertainty.
- Check names, titles, numbers, dates, quotes, image rights, and required disclosures.
- Preview the layout on mobile, along with links, the headline, and sharing text.
- Record editorial approval and the exact version approved.
- Schedule or publish, then open the live page to check it against the preview.
On a small team, the reviewer and publisher may be the same person. The record should still show when each check took place. If a material fact changes after approval, return the post to the appropriate stage. Approval of an earlier draft does not cover a new claim about funding, staffing, or contract terms.
Plan for corrections and updates before they are needed
After publication, assign someone to watch for source corrections, changed event details, broken assets, and reader reports for a defined period. A conference schedule may need attention throughout the event; an evergreen process guide may need periodic review. Put the next review date in the publishing record.
Use a correction when a published fact was wrong and an update when accurate information later changes. For a meaningful correction, tell readers what changed and when. Quietly fixing a typo is different from replacing an incorrect investment amount. If the wrong figure also appeared in a headline or social post, check those too. Keep the original reporting notes so the team can trace how the error got through.
Keep a reusable brief, source note, preflight check, and update log, and revise them when a missed step exposes a gap. At the next assignment handoff, put the approver’s name beside the scheduled date. If a last-minute question arises about a deal term, the team will know who has to resolve it before publication.
