March 27th.

Ref?  Or are you just guessing?

I thought it was further out than that?

I don't have the source handy but this is the current expected date per Frogboy. It is subject to change, of course.

Thanks, Misaniovent, and +1 karma.  

Also, +1 for Kantok for obvious reasons.    

I have a question about alpha. Are the forum badges going to be different from each other (founder's & founder's elite) once alpha rolls around, or will there be a bunch of people pretending to play it?

It is only the discount on the standard founder's price that is ending.

"he limited availability of the regular Founder's Edition is coming to a close as we near the launch of the Galactic Civilizations III Founder's Alpha, which will go out exclusively to Elite Founders who purchased the $99 edition.

The last day to purchase the $39.99 Founder's Edition is March 2, 2014.

The $99 Elite Founder’s Edition, which includes all expansions and DLC we ever produce for Galactic Civilizations III and exclusive Alpha access, will continue to be available."

Here is the link to the thread. Frogboy's statement is in reply #6.

"We now have an official date for the Alpha (as in, this has been set as much in stone as humanly possible): March 27." Notice the caveat "as humanly possible." Just in case the date slips a bit.

Bah, sorry.  I meant to come back and update with a link when I had time and completely forgot.  

Thanks Lucky Jack.  

The Alpha is only for the founder's elite. The beta is for the founders.

Will they just be emailing us a Steam key as it gets closer to the 27th?

Most likely, yes. 

Lets hope!

The other way is to have us download it from a site and it is seen as software by steam.

That is what I did for Star Swarm Stress Test. ie that is what got me to download Catalyst 14.2

I really can't imagine them sending us Steam keys before they have it ready to download and verified that the download works, so I wouldn't expect the e-mail until then.