Valve Makes Testing Games on Steam Easier for Devs
Valve is introducing another facility for developers on Steam. The Steam Playtest option enables them to easily manage access to game tests prepared for players.
- Steam Playtest is a new option available for developers on Steam.
- It enables them to easily invite interested players to test early versions of games.
Valve has introduced another novelty to Steam. Developers will have the option to directly invite players to test their upcoming games. Until now, everything has been done through external tools, mailing lists and key distribution. The new feature is designed to simplify the process.
Steam Playtest, as the new option available to developers is called, allows for running tests of a selected game through Steamworks directly from the game's card (without using keys). The principle is simple. Interested players click on the appropriate button on the game card, and the developer sees the total number of interested people with access and manually added testers, along with a limit of the devs' choice.
After the tests are completed, the developer can remove the access from the card and the game from the player's library with one click. Importantly, Steam Playtest does not cancel or compete with wishlists in the real game, and the owners of Steam Playtest cannot write reviews of the tested game. The option launches in a test form, so there may be some changes in it, which will appear after the developers' comments.
