Valve chief executive officer Gabe Newell wants real gamers to come out to his secret laboratory to give feedback on his company’s newest creations.
An official post on the video game publisher’s Steam user forums asks folks to fill out a survey if they’re interested in heading up to the company’s Bellevue, Wash. headquarters to take a look at what it’s working on. The survey on the digital download/community service asks for name, zip code, and email address, as well as many questions about specific gaming habits.
Valve will invite select users who fill out the survey to visit its workshops.
The Half-Life developer is primarily looking for people local to the Seattle/Bellevue area, but it welcomes other U.S. citizens to submit their info, as it has plans for remote tests around the country in the future. International fans should hold off for now, as this current round of testing won’t expand outside of the states.
So, what are they testing? Probably Half-Life 3 and the Steam holodeck … or probably not. Valve isn’t saying, and the testers will surely be bound to nondisclosure agreements the second they step into the door.
In recent months, Valve confirmed it’s working on computer hardware in a job posting for an industrial designer. It’s also hard at work bringing it’s Steam digital-download service to the Linux operating system.
Valve is one of the biggest gaming companies on the planet. As a developer it’s created popular franchises like Half-Life, Portal, and Left 4 Dead. As a distribution platform, Valve’s Steam service is the leading online retailer for digitally purchased PC games.