How closed alphas and betas work, and how to get into one

A closed alpha is a private test of an unfinished game, played by people the studio has chosen. A beta is a later test, usually with most of the game in place and many more players. Both trade the same thing: you play first, and in return the studio gets bug reports, data and opinions. Getting in comes down to three things: applying where the studio asks, giving honest details about your PC and availability, and being useful once inside.

This guide explains what each label usually means, how a closed test is run, what Steam Playtest and Early Access are according to Valve’s own documentation, how to raise your chances and how to spot a scam. At the end, how the COLONIZED closed alpha works, with the link to its terms.

The labels, from earliest to latest

There is no standard: each studio defines its phases. This is what the words usually mean.

Phase	What it usually is	Who plays	Does it cost	Does progress survive
Pre-alpha	Internal builds and very early tests of one system	The team and a few invited people	No	No
Closed alpha	The game is incomplete; the goal is to find what breaks	Selected players, in waves	Usually not	Usually not
Closed beta	Most features exist; the goal is balance, stability and load	More selected players	Usually not	Often wiped at the end
Open beta	Anyone can join; often a load test before launch	Everyone who signs up	Usually not	Sometimes
Playtest	A test window or separate test build, at any stage	Selected or open	Free on Steam	Depends on the studio
Early Access	The unfinished game is sold and keeps being developed	Anyone who buys it	Yes	Usually yes

Two words are often confused. Closed means access is limited to chosen players; it says nothing about how finished the game is. Early Access is a sale: you buy the unfinished game.

How a closed test is run from the inside

Most closed tests share five pieces:

• Waves. Studios rarely let everyone in at once. They open places in batches as servers and the team can absorb them, and each wave tests something different: stability, a new system, a region.
• Selection. The queue matters, but so does the mix. A test needs different graphics cards, regions for latency, languages and playstyles, so two people who applied on the same day can get different answers.
• Confidentiality. Most closed tests ask you not to publish footage or details. Usually you can say that you are taking part. Leaks are the most common reason testers are removed.
• Wipes. Characters, items and progress are reset, sometimes several times. A test that keeps everything cannot test an economy or a progression curve.
• A feedback channel. A form, a forum or a private chat where reports are collected and sorted, plus the data the build sends on its own: crashes, performance and the time it takes to do things.

What Valve’s rules say: Playtest and Early Access

On Steam, two features are often mixed up. Valve’s Steamworks documentation, read on 14 October 2026, describes them like this:

Steam Playtest is a separate, free app tied to the main game, with its own build and no store page of its own: the sign-up button lives on the main game’s page. With a limited sign-up, the developer grants access in batches and players are picked at random from the pool of sign-ups, optionally by country; with an open sign-up, everyone who asks gets in. Valve says plainly that it is not OK to charge players for access to a playtest. Someone who has only played the playtest cannot review the main game, and above 50,000 keys Valve considers that a playtest is effectively an open beta.

Steam Early Access lets a studio sell its game while it is still in development. Valve calls it “a place for games that are in a playable alpha or beta state”, asks developers not to make specific promises about the future, and tells customers to buy based on the game’s current state.

How to improve your chances

1. Apply early, and tell the truth. Most queues reward the order of arrival, and false details can cost you the place.
2. Describe your PC accurately. If a test needs a particular graphics card or amount of memory, an honest form is what gets you picked.
3. Be where the studio is. Discord servers and newsletters are where waves, test windows and extra places are announced first.
4. Check your availability. Tests have windows. Joining and never playing is the fastest way out of the next wave.
5. Once inside, write reports someone can reproduce. That is what makes a tester valuable.

A good bug report has five lines:

Field	Example
What you did	“Placed a wall piece on a slope next to a foundation”
What you expected	“The wall snaps to the foundation”
What happened	“The wall floats 30 cm above the ground”
How often	“4 out of 5 attempts, on any slope”
Context	Build number, hardware, time, a screenshot or a short clip

Opinions count too, but they are worth more when they say why: “I lost interest after 20 minutes because I did not know where to go” helps more than “boring”.

Red flags

• Someone selling alpha or beta keys. Test keys are personal and, on Steam Playtest, Valve forbids charging for them. A key bought from a third party breaks the rules it was issued under, and it can be revoked.
• Private messages asking for your login. No studio needs your Steam or Discord password to give you access. Invitations come through official channels and, in most cases, by email.
• “Pay to be a tester.” If you are asked to pay, it is a sale. If it is a sale, it should say what you are buying.

How the COLONIZED closed alpha works

COLONIZED is a space survival MMORPG for PC in development. Applications for its closed alpha are open, and the first wave is planned for winter 2026-2027: it is not in alpha yet. According to its published terms:

• Free. Taking part costs nothing.
• Who. People aged 18 or over, with a pilot account on colonized.work (created with Discord) and a Steam account in good standing. One place per person.
• Selection in waves. Your place in the queue is your order of arrival plus 10 places for each friend who completes an application. The team may also look at variety of hardware, regions, languages, playstyles and testing experience. Applying does not guarantee a place.
• Access through Steam. With a Steam key, the Steam Playtest feature or another method the team announces. Your key is yours alone.
• Confidential. You can say you are taking part. Footage and details are published only in the periods and under the conditions the team announces.
• Wipes. Progress may be wiped at any time, and nothing carries over to the final game unless the team expressly announces it.

If you want to be in the first wave, apply for the closed alpha. The conversation, and the announcements of each wave, happen on our Discord. The rest of the questions about the alpha are in the FAQ, and what exists in the game today is in the October devlog.