Valve invites gamers to test unreleased games and prototype hardware

Shawn Knight

Posts: 15,253   +192
Staff member

Valve’s rumored Steam Box gaming console is seemingly one step closer to reality as evident by a new posting on the Steam forums. The game developer is looking for playtesters to come and try out some released and unreleased versions of Valve games and hardware prototypes.

Interested parties are invited to fill out a survey on Valve’s website for consideration. The survey probably wouldn’t take more than 15 minutes to fill out. Unsurprisingly, applicants are asked a number of video game related questions like how many years they have been gaming, how many games are typically purchased in a year, how often titles are completed and the average difficulty level played at.

Most testing sessions last about an hour and take place at the company’s headquarters in Bellevue, Washington. Even if you don’t live in the area or can’t make a special trip to Washington, Valve asks that you still apply because they may have plans for remote playtesters in the future. They even point out that international support could be coming at some point.

Reading between the lines a bit, Engadget believes that participants will be testing current games using a new input method.  Furthermore, the survey specifically asks about the type of consoles you own, the number of games owned on each machine and how much time is spent playing each one per week.

There’s not much else to go on at this hour but we suspect those lucky enough to be selected would be required to sign NDAs before entering Valve’s headquarters.

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Cheers!

I put in the following credentials:

Name: Gordon Freeman
Email: Gordon.Freeman@valve.com

Let's see they make of it :)
 
Just to save people time, the survey doesn't work if you type in a UK postcode, so don't bother unless you're somewhere in the USA.
 
Nice survey.

How many games owned on PC..... over the years I wouldn't have a clue what the total count would be :p. Does my Atari 800 and Pacman cartridge count?
Wish they just put bracketed value instead of exact. Doubt many know exactly how many games they own unless it's a small number.
 
Hmmm, I should just put my Steam account ID in the survey info and tell them to check my library... Having over 80 titles listed there should count in the "pro" column for beta testing... Or it might convince them that I have a problem and should not be encouraged... Doh!
 
'Tis going to be very interesting. I hope the Steambox really kicks off. Valve and Gabe are so lovely. They deserve this.
 
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