Game Privacy Policy

Last updated: 2026-10-06

This policy covers the Wavefront: Vanguard game, including development and test builds, made and published by Wavebound Studios ("we"). The website has its own privacy policy.

The short version

• There are no Wavefront: Vanguard accounts, ads or advertising identifiers. Your progress is saved on your own computer and, through Steam, in your Steam account.
• The game sends us anonymous usage statistics and crash reports so we can see what people play and fix what breaks. They carry a random install id, never your name, Steam ID or chat. You can turn them off in Settings > Interface > Share usage statistics, which also deletes the install id.
• Bug reports are sent only when you send one (F10 or the pause menu), and you choose whether the screenshot goes with it.
• Other players in your matches see your player name, your chat messages and, over Steam, your Steam ID. The player hosting the match receives the data needed to run it.
• Steam (Valve) and the Unity engine (Unity Technologies) handle some data under their own privacy policies. Details are below.

What's saved on your computer

The game saves these files on your PC. You can delete them at any time.

On Windows, they're in %USERPROFILE%\AppData\LocalLow\Wavebound Studios\Wavefront Vanguard\:

File	What's in it
progression_<id>.json	Your account level, XP, unlocked skills and equipment, loadout, war bonds, earned skins, mission stars, career statistics and medals. <id> is your Steam ID, or local_ followed by your Windows username if Steam isn't running.
thrust_profiles.json	The missile thrust curves you've designed
PersistentWorld/world.json	Only on the computer that hosts a Persistent World: the world's map, bases and units, what each side has explored, and the Steam ID that owns each team slot, so returning players get their base back
Screenshots/	Debrief screenshots, when Steam isn't running to take them
BugReports/	Bug reports that couldn't be sent, kept so they can be sent later
Player.log	A technical log of the last session, used to troubleshoot problems

Your settings (display, audio, camera, controls, language and interface options), the usage-statistics choice and its install id are stored in the Windows registry under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Wavebound Studios\Wavefront Vanguard.

Steam Cloud. Where enabled, Steam copies your progression_<id>.json file to Steam Cloud so it follows you to another PC. Valve handles it under the Steam Privacy Policy.

Anonymous usage statistics

The game sends anonymous usage statistics to a server we run (analytics.waveboundstudios.com, a self-hosted Umami instance). They tell us how many people play, how far they get, which modes, maps and units get used, and how the game performs on different hardware.

What's sent: which screens you open (menu, lobby, battle, training); when a battle starts and ends, its mode, map shape, biome, weather, number of human and AI players and the result; per-battle counts of orders, hotkeys, units produced and structures built; frame rate and hitches; the game version, language, operating system, graphics card, processor cores, memory, display resolution and graphics settings; which settings you change; tutorial progress; achievements unlocked; Steam lobby join failures by error code; and, at most three times per session, the type and method name of an exception, never its message.

What's never sent: your name, Steam ID, chat messages, file paths, IP address (beyond what any web request carries), or anything you type.

The install id. Every event carries a random id generated on your PC so that a session's events can be grouped. It isn't linked to your Steam account or to any other data about you.

Turning it off. Settings > Interface > Share usage statistics. Switching it off stops the statistics and the crash reports described below, and deletes the install id. Switching it back on generates a new one.

Crash reports

When the game hits an error, or on the next launch after a crash, it sends a crash report to a server we run (report.waveboundstudios.com, a self-hosted GlitchTip instance). A report contains the error and its stack trace, the last 40 lines of the game's log, the game version, operating system, processor, graphics card and memory, which phase of the game it happened in, and the install id above.

Before sending, the game masks your Windows user name, your home folder path, your machine name, your Steam name and ID, other players' names, and IP addresses from the log lines.

Crash reports use the same switch as the statistics: turning off Share usage statistics turns them off too.

Bug reports you send

Press F10, or use the pause menu, to report a bug. The game captures the screen first, then shows a short form. The report contains what you typed, the screenshot (a checkbox lets you leave it out), the last part of the game's log with the same masking as crash reports, and a summary of the match: map, map code, weather, which seats were human or AI, forces, resources, your selection, camera and view. It is sent whatever the statistics switch says, because you asked for it. No name or Steam id is attached.

What other players see

When you join a match, your game sends the host:

• your player name. This is your Steam display name. If Steam isn't running (for example on a LAN), the game uses your Windows username instead, and everyone in the match can see it.
• your Steam ID, when you play over Steam. The host uses it to recognise you, for example to give you back your team slot in a Persistent World or your seat after a dropped connection.
• your chat messages and pings. Lobby and battle chat go to everyone in the match, team chat to your alliance.
• your unlocked equipment, loadout, thrust curves and skins, so your weapons behave correctly and your units look the same to everyone. With Equal footing on (the default in multiplayer), progression isn't used.
• your in-game actions: orders, production and lobby choices.
• your ping, shown to the other players in the lobby and on the score screen.

The host passes on to the other players what they need to see, such as your name, team and units.

Public Steam lobbies. When you host a public battle, it appears in the lobby browser for any Steam user playing the game, under the name "<your Steam name>'s battle", with its mode, map, biome and weather. Rich presence shows your Steam friends what you're doing in the game (in the menu, in a lobby, in a battle) so they can join you.

IP addresses. When you play over a LAN or a direct connection, the host's computer receives your IP address, as with any network connection. Steam connections go through Valve's relays, as described in Steam's privacy policy.

Steam

If you play through Steam, Valve Corporation processes data such as your Steam account, friends list, invites, lobbies, network connections, achievements, statistics, mission leaderboard scores, Steam Cloud saves, your inventory of skins and any purchases, under the Steam Privacy Policy. Achievements, career statistics and leaderboard entries are stored by Valve on your Steam profile, where your profile's privacy settings apply. We don't receive personal information from Valve through the game.

Unity

The game is built with the Unity engine. The Unity runtime may send Unity Technologies technical information about your device and about engine crashes, such as hardware specifications and operating system, to help them improve the engine. Unity handles this under the Unity Game Player and App User Privacy Policy. We don't receive it.

What we don't do

• We don't sell, rent or share personal information.
• We don't show ads or use advertising identifiers.
• We don't link the usage statistics, crash reports or bug reports to your Steam account or identity.
• We don't process payments. Skins sold through Steam are bought and owned through your Steam account, under Valve's terms.
• There's no voice chat. Text chat stays between the players in your match and isn't stored or sent to us.

Children

The game isn't directed at children under 13. We don't knowingly collect personal information from any player, including children. The data other players and third-party platforms can see is described above.

Your choices

• Turn off statistics and crash reports in Settings > Interface > Share usage statistics.
• Keep the screenshot out of a bug report with the checkbox on the form, or don't send one.
• Delete your local data by removing the folder and registry key listed above. This resets your progression and settings. Progress stored in your Steam account (achievements, statistics, leaderboards, Steam Cloud) is managed through Steam.
• Keep your Windows username private by playing through Steam, or by joining only LAN matches with people you trust.
• If you host a Persistent World, deleting PersistentWorld/world.json removes the world and the Steam IDs stored in it.
• Requests and questions. Depending on where you live, you may have rights to access, correct or delete personal information. The statistics and crash data we hold are anonymous and can't be matched to you by us, but we're happy to help with any question.

Changes

If the game adds anything that sends new data to us, this policy will be updated before that version is released, and the date above will change.

Contact

Wavebound Studios: [email protected]