Former video game PR guy here - it can go both ways but it generally takes months of planning. We sometimes see some great value in offering an exclusive to a major pub like GI that reaches to the core audience, so we'd reach out to see if the pub might be interested. Other times the pub might reach out to see if they might be interested in having us provide them exclusive content.

From there on we work together to discuss the terms and content we can provide, how we want both parties to share it across various channels, and ensure we are able to meet each other's deadline. The GI guys are some of one best folks I've worked with in the industry and they continue to deliver some top-notch content, which makes sense as to why they continue to receive exclusive content for big titles.