Hello. So, I am developing a video game. It is Name Your Price since I am okay with support from tips, and only the first act/part is ready (though I'll still be making changes to it). This part will become the demo of my game. Now, I want the same project to host a game going beyond the first act but make it available only to my beta testers. Whether someone has downloaded and claimed this game of mine for free or paid (with a tip), they shouldn't be allowed to download the file beyond Act 1. Now, how do you think I could do this? Can I upload the file, mark it as hidden, and give the playtesters download keys so only they can download this file?

Why do you want it to be in the same project? Creating a new unpublished project only for your betatesters would be a billion time easier.

It is a terrible idea. How would you even reach those selection of players? There is literally no qualification, as all you say would be needed to download your ... free to download game. Anyone "wanting" to playtest your second part, can get qualification.

Also, downloading a free game is not claiming it, unless you do some things with sales and claimable properties. It will not be listed under purchases, just because it was downloaded.

Maybe organizing such playtests in discord would be a thing to try. You could also use any filehoster and have more control there over the distribution. But having an unfinished game on itch is rather normal. So why make it exra complicated. Why would I even want to download chapter 2, if I did not have played (and liked) chapter 1.