Right on the heels of Monday’s announcement, Valve has announced the hardware companion to SteamOS — Steam Machines. The long-rumored console previously dubbed the ‘Steam Box’ reached legendary status in recent months as rumors swirled regarding Valve’s entrance into the hardware world. But instead of one single console, Valve is partnering with several other companies to bring SteamOS gaming machines to the market in 2014.
Before any of those machines see the light of day, Valve will be sending out its own “high-performance prototype that’s optimized for gaming” and is “completely upgradable and open.” Valve is only sending out 300 of these prototypes and in order to qualify, Steam users must complete a series of simple tasks that can be found on the Steam Machines website.
The list of eligible participants will be locked in on October 25th, so be sure to complete all the steps first if you want the chance to go hands-on with SteamOS before anyone else. Valve has also provided a detailed FAQ for anyone curious about SteamOS and the upcoming Steam Machines.
