Backend Game Engine Pragma Acquires Player Engagement Platform FirstLook

Two leading game development tools unite to make it easier than ever for studios to simultaneously develop games and build & manage player communities

LOS ANGELES – February 27, 2025 – Pragma, the leading backend game engine, announced it has acquired FirstLook, the premier playtesting and player engagement platform. With this acquisition, Pragma is broadening its capabilities to help studios not only build and scale games but also playtest and engage their communities more effectively, adding natural integration between the Pragma backend engine and FirstLook’s game’s community service/platform, creating one seamless place to manage all things from taking your game online, to managing your community across multiple platforms.

Pragma was founded by engineering experts who built platforms for some of the largest live service games, including League of Legends, Destiny 2, and Apex Legends. The Pragma engine powers matchmaking, analytics, monetization, player data, and more, allowing developers to hone their creativity toward building games while offloading the complexity of building a stable game infrastructure. Studios like Gardens, People Can Fly, Frost Giant, Square Enix External Studios and more use Pragma to power games. 

“The best games and most successful aren’t just well-built; they’re supported by passionate communities, grown through word of mouth, virality, quality influencer engagements and more,” said Eden Chen, CEO of Pragma. “Bringing FirstLook into the Pragma ecosystem means studios no longer need to piece together fragmented solutions to engage with their players. Together, we’re bridging game infrastructure with community engagement, giving developers the tools to not only scale their games but also build thriving player communities from day one.”

FirstLook is the only platform that provides over 15 community management tools in a seamless interface, allowing developers to build and manage player communities while controlling a game’s entire playtesting lifecycle. Developers have everything they need to jumpstart their Discord, distribute codes, onboard testers, collect feedback, collaborate with content creators, provide game updates, distribute in-game rewards, and more. 

Since FirstLook’s launch in 2024, the company has helped onboard over 100,000 playtesters, facilitated 100+ playtest events, and supported 30 Discord communities. The company expects playtester growth to quadruple, with over 350,000 playtesters planned to be onboarded. Since launching earlier this year, FirstLook has already powered community building for over 30 studios, including Dreamhaven, Treehouse Games, Frost Giant Studios and more.

“At FirstLook we’ve made it our mission to help developers both build, manage, empower and engage with their community before a game even launches,” said Robert van Hoesel, Co-Founder at FirstLook. “Joining Pragma expands our footprint, and provides incredible synergy and time-savings to developers looking to create a game – and build a robust and highly engaged community.”

Developers already using Pragma will be able to use FirstLook’s new integration features, including the ability to reward entitlements to players and manage limited-access events seamlessly. Later this month, FirstLook will launch even more playtesting features, including additional content-creator management features and in-game rewards with cross-platform access, allowing players to jump from platform to platform at will.  

“FirstLook took the risk out of our closed beta playtests, streamlining everything from registration to non-disclosure agreements to key redemption while keeping security airtight,” Cara LaForge, Director, Business Operations at Frost Giant Studios. “It was a game changer, and did what Steam’s beta playtest tool couldn’t—it allowed us to identify, screen, manage, and market to our playtesters effectively.” 

Assets for Pragma and FirstLook can be found here.

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About Pragma
Pragma has helped build some of the biggest video games and distributed systems in the world at Riot Games, PopCap, Google, Amazon, and EA for games like League of Legends, Valorant, Fortnite, Destiny 2, Plants vs Zombies 2, and Eve Online. Pragma has raised more than $50 million and is backed by leading investors like Insight, Greylock, and Upfront.

The Pragma Backend Game Engine is the only solution that is truly extensible. Now, game designers aren’t blocked by restrictive black-box features and your studio isn’t trapped into a framework that you’ll inevitably grow out of. The Pragma Backend Game Engine is also capital and resource efficient because studios no longer need to hire a large backend team and get the ultimate peace of mind that their game will always be ready to scale.

About FirstLook
Founded by a collective of indie developers who enjoy playing PC games, FirstLook is a player engagement platform that enables developers to distribute game access, manage NDAs, and collect player feedback through one interface. With over 100,000 players onboarded, FirstLook has helped studios build massive communities, refine their games before launch, and continue to engage them after launch. For more information, visit https://FirstLook.gg/.