A Guide to Social Promo Images for Games
Ever posted the same screenshot to X, Instagram, and Threads and had it crop differently on each one, or watched your text get cut off at the edge of the frame? Every platform crops or reframes images for feed previews on its own terms, and those crop rules aren't consistent across platforms — or even stable over time on a single one. Rather than chasing exact pixel specs, this post covers the safe-margin instincts and platform-tone differences that actually hold up in practice.
Margin Instincts Beat Exact Numbers
Social platforms update their crop behavior often enough that memorizing a precise pixel spec today doesn't guarantee it'll be accurate next month. The more durable approach: keep your key elements — characters, text, logo — centered, and leave generous breathing room around the edges. Push text or a face right up to the frame's edge and even a slightly different crop can chop it off.
The most reliable check is the preview each platform shows you in its own post-composer before you publish. X, Instagram, and Threads all render a feed preview at the composition stage — trust that over guessing at crop specs, and check it every single time before you hit post.
Aspect Ratio Instincts
Social images generally fall into three ratios:
| Ratio | Characteristics | Where it's used |
|---|---|---|
| Square (1:1) | Displays cleanly across nearly every platform's feed | Standalone posts, first slide of a carousel |
| Portrait (around 4:5) | Takes up more of the screen on mobile feeds, drawing more attention | Instagram feed posts |
| Landscape (around 16:9) | Pairs naturally with game screenshots and trailer captures | X posts, YouTube community posts |
For exact pixel dimensions, always check each platform's official help docs or the post-composer itself for the current number. What matters more here is a feel for which ratio suits which situation — and confirming the final result with the upload preview before you post.
Tone Differs by Platform
X. The timeline moves fast, mixing text and image posts together, so an image needs to be striking enough to actually stop a scroll. A cropped-in dramatic moment or a short GIF tends to outperform a straight screenshot, working alongside the tweet text to fill in context.
Instagram. Polish on the image itself matters more here. Feed posts reward a clean composition and tight color grading, while Stories fill the full vertical frame and read more casual and spontaneous. Followers tend to expect feed and Stories content to feel different, so reworking an image for the format usually performs better than reposting it as-is.
Threads. Being a conversation-first, text-heavy platform, images there mostly play a supporting role. A polished promo graphic tends to feel out of place; lighter material — a dev-in-progress screenshot, a short clip — fits the tone better.
What to Check Before You Publish
- Are key elements (text, faces, logo) sitting in the center rather than near the edges?
- Did you actually check each platform's upload preview before posting?
- Have you decided whether to adapt tone per platform or reuse one image everywhere?
- If there's text, is it still legible at mobile screen size?
Takeaway
Generous margins and a habit of checking the upload preview do more for you than memorizing exact pixel specs. Since crop behavior and preferred tone differ across platforms, it's usually worth adjusting composition and text placement slightly for each one, even when you're working from the same source image.