How TestBundle pays, and when it doesn't

For developers

You can create a studio account without paying. Before you start a bundle or authorize a slot, we send a payment method to our processor and confirm it can be charged. Then you pick a forming bundle (or start one), paste a playable link, write a public description, and add tester instructions that stay off the public listing. Then build a short survey (15 questions max). When you start a bundle you set how many testers must sign up, the min games to unlock, the max developer slots, and the slot price. The price starts at the suggested amount and cannot go below the marketplace minimum, which is high enough to cover card and payout fees. A lower price means less pay for testers. We authorize that listed price immediately — you are not billed extra for card processing. We do not capture it until the bundle unlocks — when the tester target is signed up and the bundle has its minimum number of games.

After unlock, testers play your game and cannot advance to the next game until they file your survey. Each answer lands on your game the moment it is filed — you do not wait for the bundle to finish. You rate those answers. Ratings become the tester's public average.

For testers

You never pay, and the listed finish payout is what you receive. You can connect a payout account as soon as you sign up — we recommend doing that before you join a bundle, but it is not required to create an account or reserve a seat. Join a forming bundle. When it unlocks, you have a set number of days to finish every survey for a payout. Each tester gets a shuffled play order and unlocks each game once. Skip a survey and the next game stays locked. Leave before the last survey, or finish after the payout window, and you earn nothing — but studios still receive the surveys you file. Each survey still open when that window ends gets an automatic 1.0 review from TestBundle, not from a studio. The review says the tester failed to submit during the period. Filing that survey removes the automatic review, even after the window has closed. Finished pay sits in your earnings until you cash out to the payout account Stripe already verified. When every tester finishes every survey, the bundle closes and is archived.

The split

TestBundle keeps 10% of what studios pay on unlock (slot price plus any high-rated surcharge). The rest is divided by the tester target. Completers each receive that fixed share. Unclaimed seats stay with the platform instead of inflating payouts for whoever finished first. Estimated card and payout fees come out of our cut — studios and testers see the listed amounts. Server costs come out of that same cut.

Example: three studios at $49.00 → $147.00 gross. Platform $14.70. Est. processor fees $7.02 (we absorb) → about $7.68 left. 6 testers × $22.05 if they finish.

Estimates use 2.9% + 30¢ per studio charge and 0.25% + 25¢ per tester payout if every seat is paid. TestBundle absorbs both, so listed slot prices and tester payouts stay whole.

High-rated testers

After enough testers have at least three ratings averaging 4.0, a studio can pay extra to fill a bundle with only those people. Until the pool is large enough to meet the tester target, that option stays locked. We will not sell a premium bundle we cannot staff.

Need a human

Testers and studios can email us about payouts, charges, play links, and surveys. Start at support.