Valve developed hardware tests to start in 2013

Valve has revealed that the company is preparing to start beta tests of its hardware prototypes in 2013, with further plans to have public beta tests at a later stage.

The goal of the hardware initiative is to “to make Steam games more fun to play in your living room”, said Valve’s Jeri Ellsworth.

Ellsworth went on to explain that prototypes, which would offer an alternative to the traditional mouse-and-keyboard setup, were being tested internally at Valve.

The hardware is expected to work in tandem with Valve’s Big Picture Mode, which is a new user-interface for Steam, which is currently in beta itself.

Valve has previously expressed its frustration with “lack of innovation” in the computer hardware space, and will be hoping that the prototype hardware products could change the way people play PC games.