Lysto

Lysto sells software to game studios across two related product lines. Its player experience (Px) research offering runs structured playtests end-to-end: studios define study objectives and upload a build, Lysto handles screening, recruiting, scheduling, incentivising and secure build distribution, and each session captures gameplay, voice and player reactions. AI flags friction, hesitation, comprehension gaps and 'aha' moments while human game user research (GUR) specialists convert those signals into themes and recommendations delivered through a collaborative dashboard. Studios can recruit from Lysto's registered player panel with filters for age, gender, region, gamer profile, genres played and experience level, or use a 'Bring Your Own Players' (BYOP) option drawing on their own Discord servers, social channels or live audiences; the two pools can be combined. Both moderated and unmoderated formats are supported, spanning single-session, multi-session and longitudinal studies. Coverage is described across Windows PC, iOS, Android and Steam, genres including RPG, shooter, casual, strategy and simulation, and lifecycle stages from prototype and beta to soft launch and live ops.

The company's current positioning is as an "AI partner for the gaming ecosystem," offering role-based AI agents rather than task tools. A Unity Co-Developer agent is built natively into Unity and is described as reading scenes, writing, refactoring and compiling C# scripts with reversible change receipts, producing validated builds and filing defects, and retaining project conventions across releases; it is offered on usage-based pricing. Additional agents are listed as forthcoming and gated behind waitlists: Xorin (Unreal support, C++), a Playtest Researcher that analyses gameplay data and generates study-goal-aligned reports, a Market Analyst that monitors genre trends and competitor moves with cited signals, and a User Acquisition agent for distribution channel selection. Underpinning these is "Studio Brain," described as a persistent multimodal intelligence layer that learns from players, developers, knowledge documents and game data and acts as shared context for humans and agents. The company advertises enterprise-grade infrastructure, data isolation, role-based access controls and IP protection for sensitive game IP.

Lysto's earlier identity was substantially different: founded in 2021 as a blockchain/NFT company aiming to bring gamers and their credentials on-chain, with APIs, tools and infrastructure intended to let developers, creators and brands integrate NFT functionality without blockchain expertise. In 2022 it launched the "Proof of Play Protocol" (PoPP) to standardise gamer credentials and reputation, issuable by games and tournaments or self-generated by gamers as trophies, game and social badges, and game-tester tokens.

Founding story

Reported as founded in 2021 by a team with backgrounds in blockchain technology and digital rewards, with the stated aim of driving mainstream NFT adoption by making blockchain integration accessible to developers, creators and brands. Sadiq Ahamed is identified as founder and CEO and Iqbal Ahmed as co-founder and COO.

Business model

B2B software and services sold to game studios. Sources describe the earlier entity's model as B2C and B2B2C, while current materials describe studio-facing offerings: managed playtesting and player-experience research studies (recruitment, session capture, AI plus expert analysis, dashboard access) and AI agents licensed by role, with the Unity Co-Developer agent priced on a usage basis. A tiered adoption path is presented: hire a single AI teammate, deploy a multi-agent team around a function, or connect Studio Brain across the game lifecycle for a studio-wide deployment.

Usage-based pricing is stated for the Unity Co-Developer agent; other agents and the playtesting service route through sales contact ('Talk to us', demo requests, consultations) with no published pricing.

Traction

Marketing materials claim 100,000+ player-experience data points, 1,000+ game user research studies across genres and platforms, a registered player panel of over one million users, player coverage across more than 80 countries and a 48-hour turnaround time. A named customer testimonial from Games 24x7 describes using structured playtesting across multiple rounds to isolate first-time-user-experience and comprehension barriers from core gameplay as retention drivers. Metrics are self-reported by the company and not independently verified in the sources.

Latest developments

Current sites present a shift toward agentic products: a Unity Co-Developer agent available on usage-based pricing, the Studio Brain intelligence layer, and waitlists for Xorin (Unreal), a Playtest Researcher, a Market Analyst and a User Acquisition agent. No dated announcements accompany these listings in the sources.