Terms of Service

Last Updated: November 4, 2026

Operator: Skilled Tournament Studios (“Company”, “we”, “us”), British Columbia, Canada
Brand/Service: Tournament Runner (the “Service”)
Contact: support@thetournamentrunner.com | Legal notices: legal@thetournamentrunner.com

The Service offers skill-based online arcade tournaments with a fixed entry fee and a fixed, published prize, where permitted by law. By using the Service you agree to these Terms of Service, the Competition Terms, the Refund Policy and the Privacy Policy.

AGE REQUIREMENT: The Service is not for minors. To enter a paid tournament you must be at least 19 years of age and at least the age of majority where you live. We may ask you to verify your age, identity or location at any time.

IDENTITY AND ANTI-MONEY-LAUNDERING: We do not ask for identity documents at checkout. Every entry fee and every prize goes through PayPal, which carries out its own identity verification and anti-money-laundering checks on its account holders, and we never receive your card or bank details. By paying with PayPal you confirm that the PayPal account is your own and in your name, and that you are a legal adult who meets the age requirement above. We may ask for government-issued photo ID before a prize is sent, for example during a prize review, and a prize may be withheld if it is not provided.

1. Agreement to Terms

These Terms govern your access to and use of the Service, including the website, game client, tournaments, Recent Wins page and support channels. If you do not agree to them, do not use the Service.

2. Changes to the Service and Terms

We may change the Service or these Terms. Changes take effect when posted, with the date above updated. A change never alters the entry fee or prize of a tournament you have already paid to enter.

3. Eligibility and Fair Entry

3.1 Age and Capacity

You confirm that you meet the age requirement above, can enter into a binding contract, and have not been barred from the Service.

3.2 One Person, One Entry

The Service does not use player accounts: you play as a guest, identified by a secure session on your device. Each person may hold only one entry in a tournament, for themselves. You may not enter on behalf of someone else, pay for several entries in the same tournament, share a session, or use anyone else’s payment method.

3.3 Location

Paid tournaments are limited to the Accepted Jurisdictions listed in the Competition Terms. We check location using the country and region our network provider (Cloudflare) reports for your IP address, and we refuse payment from anywhere else. This is not a guarantee of your physical location. Using a VPN, proxy or other means to appear somewhere else is prohibited; we may refuse entry and withhold prizes if we detect it.

4. Skill-Based Competition, Not Gambling

Tournament Runner is a skill-based competition. Winners are decided by how players play, judged by our servers under the same rules for every player in a match.

No element of chance selects a winner. There is no wagering, no odds, no house player, and no dice, card draws, loot or random prizes. The game itself uses no random numbers: every timing, including the Wave Master’s fixed 3-second deadly-shot reload, is the same in every match.
The entry fee and the prize are fixed and shown before you pay. The prize does not depend on how many players join.
Your device sends only your controller inputs. It cannot report a result, a position or a winner; every result is decided and recorded by our servers.

You agree not to describe or market the Service as a casino, sportsbook, betting platform or game of chance. We may void a result or withhold a prize if we reasonably believe it was affected by cheating, automation, tampering, location masking, collusion or other prohibited conduct.

5. Payments and Prizes

5.1 Payments

Entry fees are paid through PayPal’s secure checkout. We never see or store your card or bank details. When you enter, you authorize the entry fee shown: PayPal places a hold for it, and it is charged only when your match starts. If your match never starts, the hold is released and you are not charged. A match needs a minimum of three players to start; the start rules are in the Competition Terms.

5.2 Prizes

Prizes are paid automatically through PayPal to the same PayPal account that paid the entry fee, in the tournament’s currency. We do not hold player balances or wallets, and prizes cannot be sent to any other account: money returns only to the account it came from. We may hold a prize for review before it is sent, as described in the Competition Terms.

5.3 Refunds

Entry fees are non-refundable except as set out in the Refund Policy.

5.4 Chargebacks and Payment Disputes

If you start a chargeback or payment reversal, we may refuse further entries and withhold any pending prize while the dispute is resolved, and we may recover amounts owed as permitted by law. Please contact us first: most problems are resolved faster by email.

6. Prohibited Conduct

You agree you will not:

Cheat, hack, reverse engineer, tamper with, inject code into, or exploit bugs in the Service.
Use bots, scripts, macros or other automation.
Collude, fix matches, launder funds, or enter several times in one tournament.
Give false information about your identity, age or location, or impersonate anyone.
Evade location restrictions using VPNs, proxies or similar tools.
Use an offensive, misleading or impersonating display name, or one containing links.

7. Intellectual Property

We own the Service, including its software, game design, visuals and trademarks. You receive a limited, revocable, non-transferable licence to use it for personal, non-commercial play.

8. Limitation of Liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW: THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED “AS IS.” WE DISCLAIM ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. WE ARE NOT LIABLE FOR INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES. OUR TOTAL LIABILITY FOR ANY CLAIM IS LIMITED TO THE GREATER OF (A) THE AMOUNTS YOU PAID US IN THE SIX (6) MONTHS BEFORE THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO THE CLAIM OR (B) CAD $100. Nothing in these Terms limits rights you have under consumer protection laws that cannot be waived.

9. Governing Law and Disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of British Columbia, Canada, without regard to conflict-of-law rules. Disputes that cannot be resolved informally within 45 days will be resolved by binding arbitration in British Columbia, except where the law where you live gives you a right to go to court that cannot be waived. To the extent permitted by law, you and we waive the right to a jury trial and to take part in a class action.

10. Contact

Questions about these Terms: support@thetournamentrunner.com. Legal notices: legal@thetournamentrunner.com. See also the Contact page.