Razer is now giving gamers the chance to become playtesters for the latest upcoming games, thanks to an all-new program, allowing access to pre-release titles — and you'll be rewarded for your efforts.
Partnering with gaming services company Side, the Razer Cortex Playtest Program will let gamers play exclusive, pre-alpha games as playtesters, aiming to combine traditional playtesting features with QA (quality assurance). That means possibly trying out one of the next best PC games ahead of release day.
Made to be an all-in-one testing solution, it allows developers to gain valuable qualitative and technical feedback, running "large-scale, targeted playtests with real players." And, of course, players get to try out the latest, upcoming releases. Apparently, this is set to reduce playtesting costs by up to 80%.
Through the Razer Cortex PC game launchers, those interested can simply sign up, check if they're eligible for testing, sign an NDA and play a variety of unreleased games. Moreover, testers will be given Razer Silver rewards after playing a title and sending feedback, which can be redeemed for games or gear.
For developers, it means more testers and more playtest hours at the same or lower cost; for players, it means being closer than ever to the development process
Harlan Beverly, Chief Technology Officer at Side
“This partnership between Side and Razer is responsible for changing the paradigm of playtesting forever," says Chief Technology Officer at Side, Harlan Beverly.
"For developers, it means more testers and more playtest hours at the same or lower cost; for players, it means being closer than ever to the development process and for QA, it’s adding a whole new workstream to their role."
That's a nifty way to gain access to play the latest game releases and even shape how they turn out when they launch. You may need one of the best gaming laptops or gaming PCs to try them out, but if you're looking to try out Razer's playtesting program, here's how it all works.
How does it work?
The Razer Cortex Playtest Program is open to all gamers via the company's Cortex game launcher app, and to be eligible to play, you'll need to sign an NDA.
This can all be done through the launcher, and once gamers meet the eligibility criteria and are chosen to playtest, they will receive unique download keys for different gaming builds.
Using Side's AI-powered tool to collect gameplay data, Cortex will track playtime and performance data. Once the requirements for playtesting a game are met, gamers can submit their feedback via qualitative surveys. From there, they'll receive their rewards!
Testers can gain Razer Silver rewards for every five hours of playtesting, which can be gained in multiple smaller gaming sessions, too.
All the collected gameplay data is then analyzed by Side's AI tech, and interpreted and validated by Side’s QA teams. With this, game developers will get insight into their games from real-world players. This allows to QA team to catch any bugs (gamers will know there can be quite a few at launch) or crashes that may have gone unnoticed.
“Razer Cortex Playtest Program — Powered by Side is a new feature within our game launcher that gives developers a cost-effective way to run playtests at scale," says Quyen Quach, Software VP at Razer.
Quach continues: "By integrating Side’s solution into Razer Cortex, we simplify build distribution, enable targeted player selection, and support structured data collection. This collaboration helps developers connect with engaged players and gather meaningful feedback to support better development decisions.”
The Razer Cortex Playtest Program is now available for developers to put playtests of their games, and once builds are available, gamers can sign up and get testing. This opens to door for a wide variety of titles, whether it be AAA games or indie titles. With an NDA to sign, though, don't expect to be talking about what you've played anytime soon.
If you've got Razer Cortex installed, it's worth giving a try (especially for those rewards). Otherwise, for more on all things gaming, check out our thoughts on the ROG Xbox Ally.
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