Privacy Policy
Last updated October 10, 2026
This policy explains what information Shardforge Studios ("we", "us") collects when you use Shardlands Arena (the game, the desktop client and this website), why, how long we keep it, and your choices. We don't sell your information, show ads, or use advertising or analytics trackers.
1. What we collect
Your account
- Username, email address and password (stored only as a one-way hash; we can never see it). If you sign in with Google: your Google account ID, email and first name (for a username suggestion).
- Date of birth, country (and US state), and when needed your parent or guardian's email address and their decision, to apply the age rules.
- Your chosen avatar, friend code, friends list, settings for appearing offline, and when you accepted the Rules.
When you play
- Match records: champion, team, result, kills, deaths, assists, gold, items, damage and similar stats, ladder points, a hidden skill rating, and penalties for leaving or dodging.
- Match chat (team and all chat), including messages our filter blocked, and a replay of each online match (the inputs every player made), so staff can review reports, cheating and bugs.
- Anti-cheat checks: the game server analyses aim and input timing in each online match and flags play no human can do for a staff member to review.
- Lobby and party chat and whispers to friends are passed between players live and are not stored on our servers. Your client keeps your recent whispers on your own device.
Things you send us
- Player reports (who, which match, the reasons and your comment).
- Bug reports: your description, the game and client version, system details (operating system, screen and window size, graphics card, recent game errors, the screen you were on and, in a match, the champion and match time), and a screenshot of the game if you choose to attach one.
Technical information
- Your internet (IP) address: the last one you signed in from is kept on your account, and short-lived logs of sign-ups and failed sign-ins protect against abuse. Banned addresses are kept on a block list.
- Our web server records requests (address, page, time and browser) for security and troubleshooting.
- Anonymous live numbers (how many players are online, in queue or in a match) for our admin dashboard. These aren't linked to anyone.
2. How we use it
- To run the game: your account, sign-in, matchmaking, ranked play, match history, friends and parties. (Needed to provide the service you signed up for.)
- To keep it fair and safe: age rules and parent approval, chat filtering, reports, replays, anti-cheat checks, penalties and bans, and protecting accounts from attacks. (Our legitimate interest in a safe game, and legal requirements for younger players.)
- To fix and improve the game: bug reports, error details and anonymous player counts.
- To contact you about your account, for example confirming your email or telling a parent an account needs approval. We don't send marketing email.
3. What other players can see
Your username, avatar, rank, ladder points, profile and match history (including the scoreboards of your matches) are public on the website and in the game, and appear on leaderboards. Friends can see when you're online unless you choose Appear offline. Players in your match see your chat. Your email, date of birth, country and parent's email are never shown to other players. Staff (admins and moderators) can see account details needed to moderate.
4. Sharing
- We don't sell or rent your information, and we don't share it for advertising.
- Google handles sign-in if you choose "Continue with Google", under Google's own privacy policy.
- Cloudflare may carry traffic to our website and game server to protect it from attacks; it processes your connection under its own privacy policy.
- We may disclose information if the law requires it, or to protect players, our service or others from harm or fraud.
- Our servers are in the United States. If you play from elsewhere, your information is processed there.
5. How long we keep it
| Information | Kept for |
|---|---|
| Account and match history | Until you delete your account (deleted within 30 days of your request) |
| Match chat | 90 days; for reported matches up to 180 days |
| Match replays | 30 days; for reported matches 180 days |
| Bug reports, player reports, anti-cheat flags | Until they're no longer needed, and at the latest until your account is deleted |
| Sign-up and failed sign-in logs | 1 day |
| Anonymous player counts | 180 days |
| Server backups | 14 days |
Ban records may be kept after an account is deleted, so banned players can't simply come back.
6. Cookies and local storage
We use one cookie, shard_sess, to keep you signed in (it lasts up to 30 days). The game and client also save your settings, lobby choices and recent whispers on your own device. We don't use advertising or analytics cookies.
7. Children
You must be at least 13 to have an account, and we don't knowingly collect information from younger children. If we learn that an account belongs to someone under 13, we delete it. Younger players in Europe (under 16), Brazil (under 18) and Louisiana (under 16) need a parent or guardian's approval; we email the parent a link where they can approve, keep the account locked or ask us to delete it. Parents can also email [email protected] to review or delete their child's information.
8. Your choices and rights
- See your information: Your account and data shows what we hold. Ask us for a full copy at any time.
- Correct it: contact us to fix wrong details (for example your date of birth or country).
- Delete it: request deletion on Your account and data or contact us.
- Depending on where you live (for example the EU, UK or some US states), you may also have rights to object to or restrict how we use your information, to take it elsewhere, and to complain to your data protection authority. We won't treat you differently for using these rights.
9. Security
Passwords are stored only as secure hashes, the site uses encrypted connections (HTTPS), sign-ins are rate limited, and only staff who need it can see account details. Admins and moderators will never ask for your password. No system is perfectly secure; if something goes wrong that affects you, we'll tell you.
10. Changes and contact
We may update this policy as the game changes; the date at the top shows the latest version, and we'll announce important changes on the website. Questions or requests: email [email protected].