Antidote vs FirstLook Engagement Analytics

Antidote is a cloud-based UX and analytics platform for game studios managing playtesting and research during development. Teams can run their own tests, commission managed playtesting, or use market research services. Data capture includes surveys, gameplay and face recording, think-aloud comments, mobile screen touches, controller inputs, game events, and AFK detection. Analysis options include AI Insights, top moments, annotations, transcripts, survey and sentiment analysis, face emotion detection, automated reports, and data exports. Studios can recruit from Antidote’s community or invite their own players. Games can be delivered through Antidote, a developer download link, or Steam, Epic, Google Play, and App Store launchers. Native support covers PC, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS, and browser games; console testing is possible by arrangement. Plans include a free Indie option with restrictions, pay-as-you-go from $25 per user, Starter at $115 per month per game, and Master at $475 per month per game. The company describes security measures including NDAs, controlled launches, watermarking, and encryption.

FirstLook Engagement Analytics combines in-game telemetry with out-of-game player signals in player profiles for game studios. Native Unreal and Unity SDKs support session tracking and custom events. Teams can segment players by playtime, retention cohort, source, country, custom attributes, and tags, then trigger automated email or Discord direct messages from events or rules. Dashboards cover players, Discord, Steam, visits, sessions, custom events, retention cohorts, and funnels. Listed inputs include Unreal or Unity telemetry, Discord activity, Steam playtime, and API custom events; identity syncing spans Steam, Discord, Epic, and console accounts. Teams can export segments as CSV or through an API, and API ingestion can stream warehouse events. Counter and duration events can feed filters, segments, triggers, quests, rewards, and Discord roles. The Forever Free plan costs nothing and includes 100k player profiles, up to 500 playtesters, and 1,000 emails per month. Analytics Core costs $149 a month, billed monthly per game, and includes 1M events. Engagement Pro costs $3,499 a month, billed monthly per game, and includes 10M events. FirstLook lists Community Support for Core and Slack Support for Pro.