Preparing marketing materials and graphics screenshots

Marketing Materials and Game Graphics Screenshots Preparation

App Store requires screenshots for iPhone 6.7", 6.5", 5.5" and iPad Pro 12.9" — four different sizes with different aspect ratios. Developer takes screenshots in simulator, compresses in Photoshop, uploads. Page conversion — 2%. Competitor with similar game but properly made store screenshots with localized callout-texts and clear USP on first slide — gets 6%.

Marketing materials for mobile game is separate production discipline with its own technical requirements and common mistakes.

Technical requirements often ignored

App Store. Screenshots accepted as PNG or JPEG, max 10 per locale, minimum resolution for iPhone 15 Pro Max — 1320×2868. Important: App Store displays screenshots cropped to rounded corners of device — if important element in corner, it gets clipped. For iPad — separate upload, rotation supported (landscape/portrait), but can't upload landscape-only without portrait.

Google Play. Feature Graphic (1024×500) mandatory — without it app won't appear in recommended. Phone screenshots minimum 2, maximum 8, aspect ratio from 16:9 to 9:16. Play Console since 2022 shows preview of how screenshots display in search — with auto-applied rounding and shadows.

Size limits. PNG screenshots for App Store shouldn't exceed 500 MB total for upload via Transporter. In practice, uncompressed PNG from 4K render can weigh 15-20 MB each — optimization via pngquant or Squash mandatory.

How we make proper store screenshots

Not simulator screenshots — render from engine at needed resolution. For Unity: Camera.Render() in RenderTexture of needed size, then Texture2D.ReadPixels() and EncodeToJPG/EncodeToPNG. Gives frame without system UI, with debug overlays disabled and at needed FOV.

Choose scenes and moments: first screenshot — most spectacular gameplay frame or main art-driver. Visible in search before click on card. Second and third — key game mechanics. Last ones — social proof (rating, player count) if there's something to show.

Callout-texts on screenshots done in Figma with correct safe zones for each form-factor. For localized versions — template system: text layers replaced without re-composing whole layout. Critical if supporting 5+ languages — redoing 40 screenshots manually for each locale impossible.

Feature Graphic and App Icon — separate work. Icon must read at 57×57px (search list size) and at 1024×1024px. Check on real devices in dark and light theme — iOS adapts icons automatically on Apple Silicon.

Video preview

App Store Preview video: up to 30 seconds, must be gameplay footage (not trailer), no sound by default (autoplay without sound). Resolution requirements match those of screenshots for respective device. Video encoded in H.264, AAC audio, MOV or MP4. First 3 seconds — most important because user scrolls fast in App Store.

Render marketing video from Unity: Timeline + Cinemachine for camera setup, Recorder package for capture at needed resolution without fps drops. Post-processing (Color Grading, Bloom) enabled full — marketing content not limited by target hardware.

Timeline

Cost determined after assessment of localization scope and availability of ready art-assets.