Privacy policy for our games

Note: This policy covers the particulars of data usage in our games. We also offer a general statement of principle concerning your privacy, a detailed web privacy policy and an explanation how our site uses cookies.

Feral Interactive holds all communications between it and its customers in confidence. Unless required to do so by law we do not disclose any information received to other companies, organizations, individuals, groups, agencies or entities.

For ease of reading, this document has been kept concise. If you have any questions or would like more detail please contact us - we would welcome your enquiry.

Please note that games purchased via the App Store, the Mac App Store or Steam will use each retailer’s own update system. This policy only covers Feral Interactive’s system.

General/What information do we receive?

We receive various different types of information, including hardware specs, software versions and usage data. These are not used to identify individuals. However, we also collect personal details such as email addresses and usernames, where these are integral to the service we provide.

Product Activation

Some of our Mac games use a product activation system (requiring a “product key”) that collects information about your Mac’s hardware and registers your game to a particular computer. The information that it collects is not used to identify you personally.

Games that are activated via the App Store (iOS games only), the Mac App Store (Mac games only) or Steam (Mac or Linux) use different systems that are managed by Apple or Valve, and are not activated using this method.

Software Updates

The text below refers only to Mac games that have been activated using a product key (see above). Games bought from the App Store, the Mac App Store or Steam use different update mechanisms, which are not covered here. Feral Interactive is not responsible for any data usage by these platforms; if you are concerned, please check their privacy policies.

When you launch a game it will contact our servers to check that it is the most recent version of that game. If it is not, you will receive a message in-game offering you the option to update. As part of this process, our server receives version information for your game and system but nothing that can identify you personally.

The information received is not used to identify individuals, rather we use it to improve our understanding of the hardware and operating system software used by our customers. This allows us to refine our development efforts according to their needs.

If you do not wish to share such information, you can disable the automatic check for updates feature in the pre-game Options window. However, if you do so, you will not receive notifications that updates are available.

Other Updates

We sometimes update the documentation and default settings of our games. In order to do this, the game checks with our servers to make sure these things are up-to-date. This process only collects non-personal information such as the version of your OS, the game title and its version number.

This process is used by almost all our games, both those that are activated using a product key (see above) and those which are bought from the App Store, the Mac App Store or Steam.

Support

When you send us a support request, we may ask for more information about your system in order to diagnose and fix the problem.

For Mac games, this information is gathered in a system report. System reports use information generated by Apple’s System Information application and contain detailed descriptions of your computer’s hardware and software.

For Linux games and iOS games, the method you use for passing us this information will vary depending on the software you are using.

We keep a record of support requests, but we do not use the information they contain (including system reports) for any purpose other than to help solve individual support issues.

Crash Reports

If a Mac game crashes, a report is automatically created by the OS. The next time the game is launched you will be given the option of sending the crash report to Feral; this may help us fix the issue that caused the crash. You will also have the option of including your email address, so that we may contact you about it. A crash report only contains information about your system and the crash itself, it does not contain any of your personal information.

Feral Accounts and Online Features

In order to access certain online features, some games require you to log in to a Feral Account. By default your account data is kept private; however, some items such as your username are publicly viewable.

In order to create a Feral Account, you will need to provide your name, email address and date of birth. We do not disclose this information to any entities other than our trusted partners in order to provide their services. For example, if you create a Feral Account in order to access Contracts mode in Hitman: Absolution – Elite Edition, your details will be available to Square Enix, who manage the servers that run Contracts mode.

While you are logged in, the game will occasionally communicate with Feral’s servers as you play, including whenever you start up or shut down a game. We keep records of these communications in order to help us address specific technical issues and to better understand how people play our games.

Many of our games use third-party services (GameRanger, Game Center, Steam etc.) to enable certain online features. Feral Interactive is not responsible for any data usage by these services; if you are concerned, please check their privacy policies.

Anonymous Usage Analytics

While connected to the internet, our games will communicate periodically with Feral’s servers, including whenever you start up or shut down a game. We record this data (known as “analytics”) to help address specific technical issues and to better understand how our games are played. None of this information is used to identify you as an individual.

Deletion of Personal Data

If you have interacted with a Feral service using user-identifiable data, for example registering for Calico with your real name, or contacting our Support team using your name and a user-identifiable email address, then you can contact Support to request that this data is deleted.

Changes to this Policy

This privacy policy may be modified from time to time.