How we work, and where we draw the lines
Critical Compass asks clients to trust it with consequential decisions. That trust should rest on more than our word, so this page sets out our values, our methodology, and the rules we hold ourselves to.
What we hold ourselves to
- 1.
The evidence decides.
Every finding traces to data you can see. We don't publish conclusions we can't support, and we'd rather narrow a claim than inflate one.
- 2.
We tell you what you need to hear.
If the analysis says your project won't work, the report says so, plainly, with the reasons. Comfortable conclusions are not a service.
- 3.
Humans are accountable for every insight.
Our platform reads at machine scale, but a named team of analysts shapes, verifies and stands behind every report. Nothing reaches a client unchecked, and no output hides behind “because the system said so”.
- 4.
We state our limits.
Findings are tiered by confidence. Where the data is thin or not available we say so. Where reasonable analysts could disagree, we show the disagreement.
- 5.
The decision is yours.
We inform decisions; we don't make them for you. Every report ends in a recommendation, and the call stays with the people responsible for it.
Emre Can Deniz
CEO, GYLD
Where our data comes from, and what we won't touch
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Sourcing
Our datasets are built from licensed commercial data, public storefront and platform data, and our own longitudinal collection, gathered in accordance with the terms of the platforms involved.
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What we don't use
No data obtained in breach of platform terms or applicable law. - No private or non-consensually obtained information about individuals. - No client-confidential material from one engagement used in any other.
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Client data
Client-confidential data is segregated by engagement in every case via secured hash keys per company/user/document. Your confidential material is stored and access-controlled within its own engagement workspace and never appears in another client's outputs.
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Training use
Client-confidential materials are never used to train our models or inform any other client's work. Only our proprietary market datasets improve the platform.
AI and ethics: the line, as policy
The games industry's concern about AI is substantially about generative tools displacing creative work. We built Critical Compass deliberately on the other side of that line, and we hold these commitments as policy, not preference:
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No creative-content generation
Critical Compass will not generate games or game content. No art, writing, code, music or assets, for clients or anyone else.
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No autonomous decisions
The platform informs human decisions; it is never the decision-maker, in our work or in the agent systems we build for clients.
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Human accountability
Every delivered insight has a human analyst accountable for it. Each step of the process goes through multiple hands on our team, from MLM engineers to data scientists.
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Transparency of role
We are open that AI operates inside our analysis engine, our research in this field is recognised by the Australian Government and equally open about what it is and isn't used for.
Conflicts and independence: the analysis serves whoever commissioned it.
GYLD also operates a funding and publishing deal-making practice. As a small boutique agency operating with a "no win, no fee" model, our analytics story began with an internal need: to verify our gut decisions about which games to champion.
Critical Compass is run as a separate product with a strict wall: reports are never shared across clients, prospects, or our own deal work, and no engagement's findings inform another's. Where a potential conflict exists on a specific engagement, we disclose it before accepting the work, or simply decline the job.
The rules we operate under
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Privacy
We handle personal information in accordance with the Australian Privacy Act and, where applicable to client engagements, the GDPR and other regional privacy regimes.
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Confidentiality
Standard engagement terms include NDA provisions; we sign client-preferred NDAs where required.
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Data licensing
Commercial datasets are used under licence; public data is collected in accordance with source terms.
Questions? Let's chat.
Questions about anything on this page, from a procurement, legal or editorial standpoint are welcome: contact@gyld.agency.