Valve unveils Steam Trading Cards for players to earn and trade for rewards

Valve unveiled a beta program for Steam Trading Cards today, which users can earn, trade and cash in for rewards, according to a press release from the company.

Participating players will earn game-specific trading cards and turn them in for rewards like game badges, profile backgrounds, emoticons, coupons and more through the Steam Trading Cards program. "Up to half" a game's card set will be available from playing the game. The other half is "earned through your collecting prowess."

Players who "craft" their cards into game badges, which appear on user profiles, can also "level up" their badges by collecting the set of cards again.

Games supporting the Steam Trading Cards at its beta launch include Don't Starve, Dota 2, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Team Fortress 2, Portal 2 and Half-Life 2 with more games set to be added to the service in "over the coming months."

Aspiring card collectors can sign up for the beta in the Steam Trading Cards Group.