Steam beta branch
Also called: Beta branch, Steam branches, Private beta, Beta access code
A Steam beta branch is a separate build of a game that players opt into from the game's properties, often locked with a password for testers.
A beta branch is a named build of a game on Steam that sits next to the default branch. Valve describes branches as specific builds made available publicly or privately through Steam, and says the most common use is testing (Steamworks documentation, partner.steamgames.com/doc/store/application/branches, accessed 28 Oct 2026). A branch can have a password, and players without it cannot even see the branch name.
Players opt in from the Steam Library. They open the game's Properties, go to the betas tab, pick a branch from the list or enter an access code for a private beta, and Steam downloads that build in place of the installed one (Technipages, "How to Opt Into a Game Beta on Steam", accessed 28 Oct 2026). Valve's page names the tab Game Versions & Betas in the current client.
For QA, a private beta branch is the usual way to put a release candidate or a patch on real Steam installs. It tests the Steam layer that a local build skips, such as achievements, cloud saves and the download itself. Every report names the branch and the build ID, because a branch can move to a newer build mid-test.
Updated · Written by JJ, founder of Jumbo Jelly.
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Related terms
- Build ID
A Steam build ID is the global number Steam assigns to each uploaded build of a game, used to tell builds apart and to set one live on a branch.
- Regression pass
A regression pass retests features that already worked after a code change, to catch bugs the new patch broke in old parts of the game.
- Gold master
Gold master is the build a studio approves as the release version, after QA signs off that no known game-breaking bugs remain.
- Steam Early Access
Steam Early Access lets a studio sell a playable but unfinished game on Steam while development continues, with the store page saying so.