Clear rules for community play and managed research

1. What these terms cover

“Playtest Live”, “we” and “us” mean the Australian sole-trader business operating Playtest Live under ABN 95 235 115 495. These terms cover accounts, community coordination, browser-based rooms, support and the public website.

They do not create employment, guarantee selection or create a paid participation incentive by themselves. A paid Engagement, participant invitation, reservation or private-build arrangement needs its own specific written record.

2. Community games

A game night is coordinated through Playtest Live and played in the game environment named on its session page. Playtest Live owns the schedule, roster, readiness, browser room, consent, reports and participation record; Steam, the game or its server may provide account identity and gameplay.

Joining records your chosen role, place, readiness, check-in and consent. Capacity may place you on a waitlist, and a standby place is separate from a primary place. Free community games carry no participant incentive and do not guarantee access to a paid Engagement.

Hosts and players must follow the relevant game, publisher, server and anti-cheat rules. Playtest Live does not replace publisher anti-cheat or promise that a game host will remain available.

3. Session rooms

Room access is tied to the authenticated roster, readiness and scheduled access window. Credentials are short-lived. Do not share room access, disrupt a session, impersonate another participant, or attempt to enter a room or build you have not been assigned.

Browser voice, video and screen sharing depend on your device, permissions, network and browser capabilities. Recording is off by default. If a specific Engagement proposes recording, its separate consent must explain what is captured, why, who receives it and how long it is kept before recording can begin.

4. Participation evidence

Evidence remains labelled by source and strength. Confirmation, observation and operator verification are different claims; none is a universal player-quality or skill score. Disputed evidence is excluded from matching while reviewed, and a player separately controls whether eligible community evidence may support studio discovery.

5. Conduct and protected material

Use the service lawfully and respectfully. Do not interfere with it, automate abusive requests, harass people, submit malware, or put credentials, payment details, confidential builds, government identifiers or another person's private information into chat, screen sharing or support messages.

Report access, conduct, safety or completion problems through the private session or support workflow. We may remove a participant, close a room, resolve or dismiss a report with a recorded reason, or restrict access where reasonably necessary to protect people, confidential information or the service.

6. Your content and game platforms

You keep ownership of content you submit and give us only the permission needed to host, process, display and moderate it to operate the service. A Steam connection proves control of that account only; it does not qualify you, grant a seat, permit streaming or grant private-build access.

You are responsible for having permission to play, test, display or share any game or build involved in a session. Build credentials remain outside the room record and must use the approved private release path shown for that Engagement.

7. Free and paid services stay separate

A free game night does not include a guaranteed cohort, private-build handling, participant incentives, paid standbys, a research conclusion or checkout. A paid Engagement keeps its own design, eligibility, consent, fixed incentive, commercial record and operator approval.

No payment is owed until a specific funded invitation is issued and accepted under its recorded terms. Critical or negative feedback does not reduce an accepted fixed incentive.

8. Availability and liability

We may change, suspend or stop the service. To the extent permitted by law, it is provided on an “as available” basis and we exclude indirect or consequential loss arising from its use. Nothing in these terms excludes rights that cannot lawfully be excluded.

9. Privacy and questions

Our Privacy Policy explains account, room, security and participation records. Signed-in users can use the privacy centre for account-linked exports and tracked requests, or use private support for a question or complaint. We may update these terms by posting a new effective date here.