3 Attachment(s)
Steam Now Lets Players Enter Betas, Playtests Directly From Storefront
Steam is now letting players join betas and playtests directly from their storefront. Until now, it's been an annoying process for players to join these tests, leaving many players unaware if the betas are even happening. This new way has been added alongside the old system of having to go into a game's properties in the library and opt into or sign up for any ongoing betas.
Steam has been shipping many new features for their UI over the last couple years to make content more accessible to players and to stay competitive. When the Epic Games Store launched back in 2018, they represented Steam's first actual competition for the PC gaming market. Then once Discord added the ability to launch games, a feature they have since removed, Steam knew they had to optimize and make their platform easier to understand and prettier to look at. In reaction to Discord Steam also created their own voice chat system last year, although many still choose Discord as Steam's voice chat isn't the most reliable.
For closed playtests players still have to wait to gain access, the button on the store page is just to sign up for a chance to join the playtest. The process for closed betas used to involve signing up on an external site, then getting a closed beta code by email and then putting that into the games properties to activate. This new way is better. Betas can still be found in properties for those who are too used to the old system, and there is also a new type of "beta" in app info for developers to help with organization.
Steam used to need extra software to do everything from voice chat, to using a controller, to setting up servers. Those days are gone, and Steam now does everything. For players and for developers these are big steps forward and great quality of life changes, but from the view of the consumer this is a little worrying. Steam has long had some systemic problems like being a breeding place for white supremacists or taking large chunks of revenue from developers and neither of those have changed at all. These shiny new layers of paint make all those problems seem solved, but actually they're just hidden like wood rot behind new siding. While it is great that Steam is upgrading it's UI, don't accept aesthetic change as actual progress.
