Steam Universe Expansion! Steam Machines Details

On Monday, Valve and Steam released part 1 of 3 of their "Steam Universe Expansion", outlining the all new SteamOS, and we learned all about what can be done with the all new free operating system!

We have been speculating the last two days about what could be the next announcement. Source Engine 2? Steam Box? Hardware? Half-Life 3? At 11 AM PST/1 PM EST, we got the next bit of news. Here it is!

 Steam Machines

A powerful new category of living-room hardware is on the horizon. Join the hardware beta now. Choose the model right for you in 2014.

Finally, a multiple choice answer

Entertainment is not a one-size-fits-all world. We want you to be able to choose the hardware that makes sense for you, so we are working with multiple partners to bring a variety of Steam gaming machines to market during 2014, all of them running SteamOS.

But first, Valve’s prototype

While these products are still in development, we need your help. As always, we believe the best way to ensure that the right products are getting made is to let people try them out and then make changes as we go. We have designed a high-performance prototype that’s optimized for gaming, for the living room, and for Steam. Of course, it’s also completely upgradable and open.

This year we’re shipping just 300 of these boxes to Steam users, free of charge, for testing. You can make yourself eligible to get one. How? Read on!

Here’s how to participate

Want to make yourself eligible to participate in the beta? Add yourself to the list of candidates by completing the Eligibility Quest on Steam. Sound hard? It’s not.

THE HARDWARE BETA ELIGIBILITY QUEST:

Before October 25, log in to Steam and then visit your quest page to track your current status towards beta test eligibility

1. Join the Steam Universe community group

2. Agree to the Steam Hardware Beta Terms and Conditions

3. Make 10 Steam friends (if you haven't already)

4. Create a public Steam Community profile (if you haven't already)

5. Play a game using a gamepad in Big Picture mode