Steam Community update beta live for first 50,000 to earn the "Pillar of the Steam Community" badge

The beta to the major Steam Community update is available to the first 50,000 players who earn the "Pillar of the Steam Community" badge, Valve has announced.

Afterwards, beta access will gradually be doled out until the public launch.

For those who don't want to bother earning badges, the first glimpse at a Steam Game Hub is live with Team Fortress 2.

The new Steam Community update includes:

• Game Hubs that highlight the highest rated user-generated content as well as discussion areas on specific games.
• Group Updates have been redesigned to make it easier to tell what a group is about. Groups now include both private and public discussion.
• My Content Updates now allow for easier browsing of your creations, with a new "image wall" layout to showcase your top-rated content. You can also now mark your favourite content and share it with friends.
• Friend Activity has been retooled to make it easier to view, rate and comment on friends' activities and broadcast game-specific status updates in their activity feed.