Legal
Panel Membership Terms
Effective date: June 1, 2026
By joining the Vertical Slice Research panel you agree to the following terms. Please read them before completing your application.
1. Eligibility
You must be at least 18 years old and a working or recently-working professional in the video-game industry (engineer, designer, producer, artist, QA, audio, leadership, or a closely related role). You must be based in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, or the European Union.
2. Accurate information
You agree to provide accurate and truthful information in your application and to update it if your professional circumstances change materially. We may suspend or remove panelists who provide false or misleading profile information.
3. How studies work
When a research study matches your profile, we will contact you by email with the study details, the time required, and the incentive amount. Participation in every study is voluntary — you are never obligated to accept an invitation. Accepting an invitation constitutes agreement to the study-specific terms provided at that time.
4. Compensation
Incentives are paid within seven business days of confirmed study completion via your chosen method (PayPal, Visa gift card, or donation to a nominated games-industry charity). The exact amount is disclosed before you accept any study and is not conditional on the content of your responses.
5. Taxes
You are responsible for any taxes arising from incentive payments you receive. Panelists are independent contractors, not employees or agents of Vertical Slice Research. We will provide tax documentation as required by law.
6. Intellectual property
You assign to Vertical Slice Research and its clients a perpetual, worldwide, royalty-free licence to use the responses, feedback, and materials you contribute during studies for research and analytical purposes. Any attribution will be anonymised unless you separately consent in writing to named attribution.
7. Confidentiality
Some studies involve confidential materials — unreleased games, tools, or product concepts. By accepting a study invitation you agree to keep those materials confidential, not to disclose them outside the study session, and not to use them for any commercial purpose. This obligation survives your departure from the panel.
8. Your data
We collect professional profile information solely to match you with relevant studies. We do not sell your personal data. Study responses are shared with research buyers in anonymised, aggregated form only. See our Privacy Policy for full details.
9. Code of conduct
You agree to engage in studies honestly and in good faith, to treat VSR staff and any research moderators professionally, and not to attempt to game quality checks or submit low-effort responses. Violations may result in removal from the panel and forfeiture of pending incentives.
10. Withdrawal
You may withdraw from the panel at any time by submitting a request via the contact form at verticalsliceresearch.com/contact. Withdrawal does not affect payment for studies you have already completed, but forfeits any incentive for studies you have accepted but not yet completed.
11. Limitation of liability
Vertical Slice Research's total liability to you under these terms is limited to the incentive amounts paid or payable to you in the six months preceding the relevant claim. We are not liable for indirect, consequential, or incidental damages.
12. Changes to these terms
We will notify active panelists by email at least 14 days before any material change to these terms. Continued participation after that notice period constitutes acceptance of the updated terms.
Questions?
Use the contact form.