Key Management

Use FirstLook to distribute game keys to players across all major platforms — including Steam, Epic Games Store, PlayStation, and Xbox — and for various purposes. When you upload keys to FirstLook, they are automatically assigned to players after they complete the onboarding process. This ensures that only verified, onboarded players receive access to your build. In the ‘Keys & Access’ tab, you can view all keys for your game, check which ones are redeemed, or search for a specific key.

For the end-to-end task walkthrough, see Getting Players Into Your Game.

Adding Keys

This section walks through the process for Steam keys in particular, however other platforms offer similar experiences.

Adding Steam Keys

If this is your first time distributing Steam keys for testing, we recommend reading the Steam Keys and Playtest Guide for background on how key distribution works and how to request them on Steam.

Consider using a Steam Playtest App

When running playtests, we recommend utilizing the Steam Playtest feature with Standard Release Keys instead of using Release State Override Keys for your main game.
This approach offers several advantages:

• Your main game remains on players’ wishlists (it won’t disappear when they playtest).
• You can generate up to 50,000 keys for a playtest app, compared to 2,500 for Release State Override Keys.
• Playtesters can purchase your main game later, and their reviews will count toward your final rating.

Learn More →

Requesting Steam Keys

You can generate Steam keys in the Steamworks Partner Portal. You need Generate Steam Keys permissions within Steam to do so.

1. Log in to the Steamworks Partner Portal
   Visit the Steamworks Partner Portal and log in with your developer account.

2. Select your App
   Find your game in the list of apps and open it. If you’re using a dedicated Playtest App, select that version instead.

3. Request Product Keys
   Click the Request Steam Product Keys button.
   Enter the number of keys you want (1,000 is a good starting point) and select the key type:

   • Standard Key for playtests
   • Release State Override Key if not using a Playtest App

4. Download the Keys
   Once generated, download the .zip file. Inside, you will find a plain text file with one key per line.

5. Upload the Keys to FirstLook
   Open your FirstLook Dashboard → Keys. You will notice some placeholder Demo Keys, which will be removed once you add your own.

   • Click Manage & Import Keys, then choose the Steam Key row.
   • Click Choose File to upload your .txt file
   • Or paste the keys directly into the input field
   • Click Import to complete the upload.

   

6. Done!
   Your Steam keys are now uploaded. You can add more keys or remove them at any time.

   Players who sign up for your playtest will automatically receive a key once invited or approved.

Key Types

To differentiate between the various keys in your system, we use Key Types. Key Types group keys by their purpose and platform, allowing you to configure different settings for each type and assign specific keys to targeted audiences.

Key Type Configuration

Next you can configure the following settings:

Steam

• Distribution Platform – The platform on which the key is distributed.
• Key Name – The name of the key type. This identifies the key type in your system and is displayed to players in their dashboard.
• Key Type – Select the type of key you exported - Playtest Standard Key, Default Release Steam Key, Release State Override Key. Developer Autogrant Key.
• Redeem Type – The type of product or content the key unlocks (Game, DLC or Bundle)
• Hide from Players - Toggle to hide the key from a players dashboard, but keep it assigned.
• Enable Key Limit - Set the maximum numbers of keys a player can receive.

PlayStation Store

• Distribution Platform – The platform on which the key is distributed.
• Key Name – The name of the key type. This identifies the key type in your system and is displayed to players in their dashboard.
• Use Region Locked Codes - Lock codes to a specific region and automatically assign them based on the players PlayStation Country.
• Hide from Players - Toggle to hide the key from a players dashboard, but keep it assigned.
• Enable Key Limit - Set the maximum numbers of keys a player can receive.

Xbox Store

• Distribution Platform – The platform on which the key is distributed.
• Key Name – The name of the key type. This identifies the key type in your system and is displayed to players in their dashboard.
• Hide from Players - Toggle to hide the key from a players dashboard, but keep it assigned.
• Enable Key Limit - Set the maximum numbers of keys a player can receive.

Player Choice

• Token Label - The name of the key type. This identifies the key type in your system and is displayed to players in their dashboard.
• Cross-Platform Keys - Cross-Platform lets players pick from supported store platforms (Steam, Xbox, PSN…)
• Custom - Custom lets you offer any selection of key types, e.g. one of several in-game skins.

See Player Choice Keys below for the full setup and player experience.

Epic Games Store

• Distribution Platform – The platform on which the key is distributed.
• Key Name – The name of the key type. This identifies the key type in your system and is displayed to players in their dashboard.
• Hide from Players - Toggle to hide the key from a players dashboard, but keep it assigned.
• Enable Key Limit - Set the maximum numbers of keys a player can receive.

Google Play

• Distribution Platform – The platform on which the key is distributed.
• Access Name - The name of the key type. This identifies the key type in your system and is displayed to players in their dashboard.
• Access Type

• Link - Add users to Google Play Console and provide access via link.
• Access Code - Generate codes that anyone can redeem. FirstLook has no control over user redemption.

• Hide from Players - Toggle to hide the key from a players dashboard, but keep it assigned.

Link to Google Play Integration docs

Apple TestFlight

• Distribution Platform – The platform on which the key is distributed.
• Key Name – The name of the key type. This identifies the key type in your system and is displayed to players in their dashboard.
• Use TestFlight Group - Toggle on to hide the link from players and automatically assign them to a TestFlight group.

-Assign TestFlight Group - Choose the TestFlight group to assign.

• Access Link - The link that players will use to access the content.

Link to Apple Integration docs

Nintendo Switch 2

• Distribution Platform – The platform on which the key is distributed.
• Key Name – The name of the key type. This identifies the key type in your system and is displayed to players in their dashboard.
• Hide from Players - Toggle to hide the key from a players dashboard, but keep it assigned.
• Enable Key Limit - Set the maximum numbers of keys a player can receive.

Custom Key

• Distribution Platform – The platform on which the key is distributed.
• Key Name – The name of the key type. This identifies the key type in your system and is displayed to players in their dashboard.
• Redeem Instructions - Player facing instructions that are visible when redeeming the key. This field supports Markdown formatting. Leave blank to only show the key.
• Redeem URL - Add a custom URL which the player can use to redeem their key.
• Hide from Players - Toggle to hide the key from a players dashboard, but keep it assigned.
• Enable Key Limit - Set the maximum numbers of keys a player can receive.

Player Choice Keys

Player Choice Keys let you hand a player a single reward and let them decide which platform they want to play on. Instead of locking the player to one store, the key presents a picker — Steam, Xbox, PlayStation, Epic, and more — and swaps itself for a real platform key the moment the player chooses.

Note

Player Choice Keys are labelled Cross-Platform Tokens in the dashboard — the two names refer to the same feature, so wherever this guide says “Player Choice Key,” look for “Cross-Platform Token” in the UI. This feature must be enabled for your game; if you don’t see the Cross-Platform Token option when adding a key type, contact your FirstLook representative to have it turned on.

How it works

A Player Choice Key is a token, not a key. On its own it grants nothing — it acts as a placeholder that points to a set of real platform key types you’ve already created.

• When a player redeems the token, they pick one of the platforms you’ve enabled.
• FirstLook consumes the token and assigns the player a real key from that platform’s key type.
• The choice is final: once a platform is claimed, the token is spent.

Because the token holds no keys of its own, you can assign it to an unlimited number of players. The actual supply limits live on the underlying platform key types it points to.

Before you start

A Player Choice Key references existing key types — it does not create them. Set up the platform key types you want to offer first, then build the token on top of them.

• Create a key type for each platform you plan to include (for example, a Steam key type, an Epic Games Store key type, a PlayStation key type). See Key Types above for how to add and configure each platform.
• Upload or connect keys for those platform key types so there’s supply available to assign.

You can only include a platform if a matching key type already exists for it. Some platforms (Epic, EA, Google Play, Apple TestFlight) also require that integration to be enabled for your game before they appear as options.

Setting up a Player Choice Key

1. Open the Keys & Access tab and go to Key Types.

2. Select New and choose Cross-Platform Token.

3. Give the token a Token Label — a clear name for internal and player-facing use, e.g. Cross-Platform Playtest Key. This is the name players see when the key is assigned to them.

4. Under Platform options, toggle on each platform you want to offer. For every platform you enable, select the specific key type players will receive if they choose it — the Steam key type for Steam, the PlayStation key type for PSN, and so on. Epic, EA, Google Play, and Apple TestFlight appear only if that integration is enabled for your game.

5. (Optional) Toggle Allow Region Selection to let players pick their region when redeeming. This applies only to PlayStation keys, and only for keys distributed through creator campaigns that support region selection.

6. Select Create Token (or Save Changes when editing).

Your Player Choice Key now appears alongside your other key types in Keys & Access. You can return to it at any time to add or remove platforms, or change which underlying key type each platform points to.

Assigning the key to players

A Player Choice Key is assigned exactly like any other key — through a reward, a Flow, player segmentation, a creator campaign, or by granting it manually from the Keys & Access tab. Once assigned, it sits in the player’s dashboard waiting to be redeemed.

The player experience

When a player has a Player Choice Key assigned, redemption is a guided, self-serve step on their dashboard:

1. Open the reward. The player sees the token’s label on their dashboard and selects it to redeem.
2. Choose a platform. They land on a picker headed “Which platform do you want to play on?” listing every platform you enabled.
3. Connect the matching account (if needed). Each platform key requires the player’s account for that platform to be linked. If it isn’t, a Connect your [Platform] button appears; the player connects the account, then returns to claim.
4. Select a region (PlayStation only). If you enabled Allow Region Selection and the player chooses PlayStation, they pick their region (Americas, Europe, Asia, Japan, or Korea) before claiming.
5. Claim. FirstLook spends the token, assigns a real key from the chosen platform’s key type, and takes the player to that key’s redemption page.

After claiming, the token is marked redeemed and the player owns a standard platform key — there’s nothing different about it from that point on.

The choice is permanent

Once a player claims a platform, the token is spent and they can’t switch to a different platform. Make sure your platform options and available supply are correct before assigning the token widely.

What players might run into

What the player sees	What it means
A platform marked Unavailable	There are no keys left in that platform’s key type, so it can’t be chosen. The player can pick a different platform.
Connect your [Platform] instead of Claim	The account for the selected platform isn’t linked yet. The player must connect it before they can claim.
”There are no more keys available for this platform.”	The chosen platform ran out of supply between selection and claim. The player can choose another platform.
”There are no more keys available for this platform in your region.”	Region selection is on and that region is out of keys. The player can try a different region or platform.

Viewing Keys

In the ‘Keys & Access’ tab, you can browse all keys for your game and filter by key type, status (redeemed or not), and search by key. If a key is assigned to a player, you will see when it was assigned and the player who received it.

Revoking and Deleting Keys

If you want to remove keys from FirstLook, you can either select Revoke or Delete. This can be done either individually or in Bulk from the Keys tab.

Revoke - Revoke keys that have been assigned to a player.
Delete - Delete keys that have not yet been assigned.

Exporting Keys

If you need to export a .txt list of your keys, this can be done by selecting Export in the top right hand corner of the Keys and Access tab. This is especially useful if you’re looking to import them directly into Steam for deletion.

Working at Scale

A few things to know when handling keys in large volumes:

• Large imports process in the background. The counts shown right after upload can look partial until processing completes — give it a few minutes. See What happens in the background.
• Key files are capped at 10 MB. Split very large files into multiple imports. See Limits & File Requirements.
• Removing keys in bulk. Revoking and deleting supports bulk selection from the Keys tab — see Revoking and Deleting Keys above. To remove keys from Steam itself, follow the key removal steps on the Steam Playtests page.