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Valve Corporation, also known as Valve Software, is an American
video game developer A video game developer is a software developer specializing in video game development – the process and related disciplines of creating video games. A game developer can range from one person who undertakes all tasks to a large business with em ...
,
publisher Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...
, and
digital distribution Digital distribution, also referred to as content delivery, online distribution, or electronic software distribution, among others, is the delivery or distribution of information or materials through digital platforms. The distribution of digital ...
company headquartered in
Bellevue, Washington Bellevue ( ) is a city in the Eastside (King County, Washington), Eastside region of King County, Washington, United States, located across Lake Washington from Seattle. It is the third-largest city in the Seattle metropolitan area, and the f ...
. It is the developer of the software distribution platform
Steam Steam is water vapor, often mixed with air or an aerosol of liquid water droplets. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization. Saturated or superheated steam is inv ...
and the game franchises ''
Half-Life Half-life is a mathematical and scientific description of exponential or gradual decay. Half-life, half life or halflife may also refer to: Film * Half-Life (film), ''Half-Life'' (film), a 2008 independent film by Jennifer Phang * ''Half Life: ...
'', ''
Counter-Strike ''Counter-Strike'' (''CS'') is a series of multiplayer tactical first-person shooter video games, in which opposing teams attempt to complete various objectives. The series began on Windows in 1999 with the release of the first game, '' Counte ...
'', '' Portal'', ''
Day of Defeat ''Day of Defeat'' is a team-based multiplayer first-person shooter video game set in the European theatre of World War II on the Western front. Originally a modification of the 1998 game ''Half-Life'', the rights of the modification were purchas ...
'', '' Team Fortress'', ''
Left 4 Dead ''Left 4 Dead'' is a 2008 first-person shooter game developed by Valve South and published by Valve. It was originally released for Windows and Xbox 360 in November 2008 and for Mac OS X in October 2010, and is the first title in the '' Left 4 ...
'' and ''
Dota ''Dota'' is a series of strategy video games. The series began in 2003 with the release of ''Defense of the Ancients'' (''DotA''), a fan-developed multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) custom map for the video game ''Warcraft III: Reign of Ch ...
''. Valve was founded in 1996 by the former
Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...
employees
Gabe Newell Gabe Logan Newell (born November 3, 1962), also known by his nickname Gaben, is an American video game developer and businessman. He is the president and co-founder of the video game company Valve Corporation. Newell was born in Colorado and ...
and Mike Harrington. Their debut game, the
first-person shooter A first-person shooter (FPS) is a video game genre, video game centered on gun fighting and other weapon-based combat seen from a First person (video games), first-person perspective, with the player experiencing the action directly through t ...
(FPS) ''
Half-Life Half-life is a mathematical and scientific description of exponential or gradual decay. Half-life, half life or halflife may also refer to: Film * Half-Life (film), ''Half-Life'' (film), a 2008 independent film by Jennifer Phang * ''Half Life: ...
'' (1998), was a critical and commercial success and had a lasting influence on the FPS genre. Harrington left in 2000. In 2003, Valve launched Steam, followed by ''
Half-Life 2 ''Half-Life 2'' is a 2004 first-person shooter game developed and published by Valve Corporation. It was published for Windows on Valve's digital distribution service, Steam. Like the original ''Half-Life'' (1998), ''Half-Life 2'' is played ent ...
'' (2004), the episodic sequels '' Half-Life 2: Episode One'' (2006) and '' Episode Two'' (2007), the multiplayer games ''
Team Fortress 2 ''Team Fortress 2'' (''TF2'') is a Multiplayer video game, multiplayer first-person shooter game developed and published by Valve Corporation in 2007. It is the sequel to the 1996 ''Team Fortress'' Mod (video gaming), mod for ''Quake (video g ...
'' (2007) and ''
Left 4 Dead ''Left 4 Dead'' is a 2008 first-person shooter game developed by Valve South and published by Valve. It was originally released for Windows and Xbox 360 in November 2008 and for Mac OS X in October 2010, and is the first title in the '' Left 4 ...
'' (2008), the puzzle games '' Portal'' (2007) and ''
Portal 2 ''Portal 2'' is a 2011 puzzle-platform game developed by Valve for Windows, macOS, Linux, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360. The digital PC versions are distributed online by Valve's Steam service, while all retail editions are distributed by Elect ...
'' (2011) and the
multiplayer online battle arena Multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) is a Video game genre, subgenre of strategy video games in which two teams of Gamer, players compete on a structured battlefield, each controlling a single Player character, character with distinctive abilit ...
game ''
Dota 2 ''Dota 2'' is a 2013 multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) video game by Valve Corporation, Valve. The game is a sequel to ''Defense of the Ancients'' (''DotA''), a community-created Mod (video gaming), mod for Blizzard Entertainment's ''War ...
'' (2013). In the 2010s, Valve released fewer games and experimented with hardware and
virtual reality Virtual reality (VR) is a Simulation, simulated experience that employs 3D near-eye displays and pose tracking to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video gam ...
(VR). They entered the hardware market in 2015 with the Steam Machine, a line of
gaming computer A gaming computer, also known as a gaming PC, is a specialized personal computer designed for playing PC games at high standards. They typically differ from mainstream personal computers by using high-performance graphics cards, a high core-co ...
s, which sold poorly, and released the
HTC Vive HTC Vive is a line of Virtual reality, virtual and mixed reality Virtual reality headset, headsets produced by HTC, HTC Corporation. The brand currently encompasses headsets designed for use with Personal computer, personal computers as well a ...
and
Valve Index The Valve Index is a virtual reality headset created and manufactured by Valve Corporation, Valve. Announced on April 30, 2019, the headset was released on June 28 of the same year. The Index is a second-generation headset and the first to be f ...
VR headsets. They returned to the ''Half-Life'' series in 2020 with '' Half-Life: Alyx'', their flagship VR game. In 2022, Valve released the
Steam Deck The Steam Deck is a handheld gaming computer produced by Valve Corporation, designed to run a portion of games available on the Steam storefront client. Built upon the experiences gained from Valve's earlier ventures with Steam Machine and th ...
, a portable gaming system. Valve uses a flat structure, whereby employees decide what to work on themselves. They develop games through
playtesting A playtest is the process by which a game designer tests a new game for bugs and design flaws before releasing it to market. Playtests can be run "open", "closed", "beta", or otherwise, and are very common with board games, collectible card games, ...
and iteration, describing game design as a kind of
experimental psychology Experimental psychology is the work done by those who apply Experiment, experimental methods to psychological study and the underlying processes. Experimental psychologists employ Research participant, human participants and Animal testing, anim ...
. By 2012, Valve employed around 250 people and was reportedly worth over US$3 billion. Most of Valve's revenue comes from Steam, which controlled over half of the digital PC games market in 2011 and generated an estimated $3.4 billion in 2017.


History


Founding and ''Half-Life'' (1996–2003)

Valve was founded in 1996 by the former
Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...
employees
Gabe Newell Gabe Logan Newell (born November 3, 1962), also known by his nickname Gaben, is an American video game developer and businessman. He is the president and co-founder of the video game company Valve Corporation. Newell was born in Colorado and ...
and Mike Harrington. Newell had spent the prior 13 years at Microsoft developing
Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...
, including the
Windows 95 Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented operating system developed by Microsoft and the first of its Windows 9x family of operating systems, released to manufacturing on July 14, 1995, and generally to retail on August 24, 1995. Windows 95 merged ...
port of ''
Doom Doom is another name for damnation. Doom may also refer to: People * Doom (professional wrestling), the tag team of Ron Simmons and Butch Reed * Daniel Doom (1934–2020), Belgian cyclist * Debbie Doom (born 1963), American softball pitche ...
''. Wanting to move onto a new venture using their shared wealth, Newell and Harrington founded Valve, L.L.C. in
Kirkland, Washington Kirkland is a city in King County, Washington, United States. A suburb east of Seattle, its population was 92,175 in the 2020 U.S. census which made it the sixth largest city in King County and the twelfth largest city in the state of Washington. ...
, about five miles from the Microsoft campus in Redmond, on August 24, 1996, Newell's wedding day. In a break from industry style of the time, Newell did not want a company name that suggested "testosterone-gorged muscles and the 'extreme' of anything". Alternative names considered by Newell and Harrington include Hollow Box, Fruitfly Ensemble and Rhino Scar. Valve's first game was ''
Half-Life Half-life is a mathematical and scientific description of exponential or gradual decay. Half-life, half life or halflife may also refer to: Film * Half-Life (film), ''Half-Life'' (film), a 2008 independent film by Jennifer Phang * ''Half Life: ...
'', a
first-person shooter A first-person shooter (FPS) is a video game genre, video game centered on gun fighting and other weapon-based combat seen from a First person (video games), first-person perspective, with the player experiencing the action directly through t ...
(FPS) with elements of horror. The development was aided by access to the ''Quake'' engine by
id Software id Software LLC () is an American video game developer based in Richardson, Texas. It was founded on February 1, 1991, by four members of the computer company Softdisk: game programmer, programmers John Carmack and John Romero, game designer T ...
; Valve modified this engine into their
GoldSrc GoldSrc (pronounced "Gold Source"), sometimes called the ''Half-Life'' engine, is a proprietary game engine developed by Valve. At its core, GoldSrc is a heavily modified version of id Software's ''Quake'' engine. It made its debut in 1998 with ...
engine. After struggling to find a publisher, Valve eventually signed with Sierra On-Line. ''Half-Life'' was released in November 1998 and was a critical and commercial success. With its realism, scripted sequences and seamless narrative, it had a lasting influence; according to ''
IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...
'' in 2014, the history of the FPS genre "breaks down pretty cleanly into pre-''Half-Life'' and post-''Half-Life'' eras". Valve enlisted
Gearbox Software Gearbox Software, L.L.C is an American video game developer, video game development company based in Frisco, Texas. It was established as a limited liability company in February 1999 by five developers formerly of Rebel Boat Rocker. Randy Pitch ...
to develop three expansions for ''Half-Life'': ''
Opposing Force An opposing force (alternatively enemy force, abbreviated OPFOR or OpFor) is a military unit tasked with representing an enemy, usually for training purposes in war game scenarios. The related concept of aggressor squadron is used by some ai ...
'' (1999), '' Blue Shift'' (2001) and ''
Decay Decay may refer to: Science and technology * Bit decay, in computing * Decay time (fall time), in electronics * Distance decay, in geography * Software decay, in computing Biology * Decomposition of organic matter * Mitochondrial decay, in g ...
'' (2001). In 1998, Valve acquired TF Software, a group that had made the popular ''Team Fortress'' mod for ''Quake'', and remade it for GoldSrc as ''
Team Fortress Classic ''Team Fortress Classic'' is a first-person shooter game developed by Valve Corporation, Valve and published by Sierra Studios. It was originally released in April 1999 for Windows, and is based on ''Team Fortress'', a Mod (video gaming), mod f ...
'' in 1999. Valve released the
software development kit A software development kit (SDK) is a collection of software development tools in one installable package. They facilitate the creation of applications by having a compiler, debugger and sometimes a software framework. They are normally specific t ...
(SDK) for the GoldSrc engine, facilitating numerous user-created mods. They acquired the developers of one popular mod, ''
Counter-Strike ''Counter-Strike'' (''CS'') is a series of multiplayer tactical first-person shooter video games, in which opposing teams attempt to complete various objectives. The series began on Windows in 1999 with the release of the first game, '' Counte ...
'', to create a standalone ''Counter-Strike'' game. Happy with Valve's success, Harrington sold his stake in Valve to Newell in 2000. Valve's publishing agreement meant Sierra owned the ''Half-Life''
intellectual property Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, co ...
and held exclusive publishing rights to future Valve games. In 2001, Valve renegotiated by threatening to cease game development and develop other software, using an offer of a partnership from
Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...
to create a digital storefront as a bargaining chip. After the agreement with Sierra was amended, Valve gained the ''Half-Life'' intellectual property and online distribution rights for its games.


Source, Steam, and ''Half-Life 2'' (2003–2010)

In 2003, Valve moved to
Bellevue, Washington Bellevue ( ) is a city in the Eastside (King County, Washington), Eastside region of King County, Washington, United States, located across Lake Washington from Seattle. It is the third-largest city in the Seattle metropolitan area, and the f ...
, and reincorporated as Valve Corporation. In 2010, the office moved to a larger location in Bellevue. In 2016, Valve signed a nine-floor lease in the Lincoln Square complex in downtown Bellevue, doubling the size of its offices. Valve began developing ''
Half-Life 2 ''Half-Life 2'' is a 2004 first-person shooter game developed and published by Valve Corporation. It was published for Windows on Valve's digital distribution service, Steam. Like the original ''Half-Life'' (1998), ''Half-Life 2'' is played ent ...
'' six months after the release of the first ''Half-Life'', using its new in-house engine, Source. With advanced physics systems and an increased focus on story and characters, it received critical acclaim upon its release in 2004. By 2011, it had sold 12 million copies. In 2002, Valve launched
Steam Steam is water vapor, often mixed with air or an aerosol of liquid water droplets. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization. Saturated or superheated steam is inv ...
, a digital storefront and delivery platform. Steam initially offered only Valve games, and was mandatory to install ''Half-Life 2'', but became a publisher of third-party games. As Valve became its own publisher via Steam, it transitioned to a
flat organization A flat organization (or horizontal organization) is an organizational structure with few levels of management between staff and executives. An organizational structure refers to the nature of the distribution of the units and positions within it, ...
. Outside of executive management, Valve does not have bosses and uses an
open allocation Open allocation refers to a style of management in which employees are given a high degree of freedom in choosing what projects to work on, and how to allocate their time. They do not necessarily answer to a single manager, but to the company and ...
system, allowing employees to move between departments at will. After having taken five years to develop ''Half-Life 2'', Valve moved to episodic development, planning to release shorter games more frequently. '' Half-Life 2: Episode One'', the first in a planned trilogy of episodic ''Half-Life 2'' sequels, was released in 2006. '' Episode Two'' followed in 2007, alongside the multiplayer game ''
Team Fortress 2 ''Team Fortress 2'' (''TF2'') is a Multiplayer video game, multiplayer first-person shooter game developed and published by Valve Corporation in 2007. It is the sequel to the 1996 ''Team Fortress'' Mod (video gaming), mod for ''Quake (video g ...
'' and the puzzle game '' Portal'', developed from the student project ''
Narbacular Drop ''Narbacular Drop'' is a 2005 Puzzle video game, puzzle-platform game developed by Nuclear Monkey Software. It was the senior game project of students attending DigiPen Institute of Technology. The gameplay consists of navigating a dungeon using ...
''. In January 2008, Valve announced the acquisition of
Turtle Rock Studios Turtle Rock Studios (known as Valve South between 2008 and 2010) is an American video game developer founded in March 2002 by Mike Booth. It was acquired by Valve in 2008, but was re-founded in 2010 as a subsidiary of Slamfire Inc. by Phil Rob ...
, which was renamed Valve South. Turtle Rock developed ''
Left 4 Dead ''Left 4 Dead'' is a 2008 first-person shooter game developed by Valve South and published by Valve. It was originally released for Windows and Xbox 360 in November 2008 and for Mac OS X in October 2010, and is the first title in the '' Left 4 ...
'' and '' Left 4 Dead 2'' while associated with Valve. Turtle Rock Studios spun out of Valve again in March 2010. ''
Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...
'' estimated that Valve had grossed $70 million in 2005.


Transition to services (2010–2014)

In 2009, Valve hired IceFrog, the developer of ''
Defense of the Ancients ''Defense of the Ancients'' (''DotA'') is a multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) mod (video gaming), mod for the video game ''Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos'' (2002) and its expansion, ''The Frozen Throne'' (2003). The objective of the game is ...
'', a ''
Warcraft III ''Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos'' is a high fantasy real-time strategy computer video game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment released in July 2002. It is the second sequel to '' Warcraft: Orcs & Humans'', after '' Warcraft II: Ti ...
'' mod. IceFrog led the development of a sequel not associated with the ''Warcraft'' elements, ''
Dota 2 ''Dota 2'' is a 2013 multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) video game by Valve Corporation, Valve. The game is a sequel to ''Defense of the Ancients'' (''DotA''), a community-created Mod (video gaming), mod for Blizzard Entertainment's ''War ...
'', released in 2013. Alongside ''Dota 2'' in 2011, Valve started the International, an annual
esport Esports (), short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. Esports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players, played individually or as teams. ...
s tournament for ''Dota 2'' with a prize pool supported by Valve and funds from microtransactions from
battle pass In the video game industry, a battle pass or rewards track is a type of monetization approach that provides additional content for a game usually through a tiered system, rewarding the player with in-game items for playing the game and complet ...
es purchased by players. Valve released ''
Portal 2 ''Portal 2'' is a 2011 puzzle-platform game developed by Valve for Windows, macOS, Linux, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360. The digital PC versions are distributed online by Valve's Steam service, while all retail editions are distributed by Elect ...
'' in April 2011. As with the original ''Portal'', Valve employed a Digipen student team to help develop it; the team behind '' Tag: The Power of Paint'' implemented the new gel gameplay. The
Screen Digest Screen Digest Ltd was a company providing business intelligence, research and analysis on the global media markets based in London, United Kingdom, that has grown out of a monthly journal of that name that was founded in 1971. It was acquired by t ...
analyst Ed Barton estimated Valve's 2010 revenue to be in the "high hundreds of millions of dollars". As of 2011, Valve had an estimated worth of $2 to 4 billion and employed 250 people; according to Newell, this made it more profitable per employee than
Google Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...
or
Apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...
. Most of Valve's revenue came from Steam, which controlled 50 to 70% of the market for downloaded PC games in 2011. By 2011, Valve had replaced episodic development with a platform-oriented approach, whereby games such as ''Left 4 Dead 2'' and ''Team Fortress 2'' were continually updated through Steam updates. In June 2012, Valve hired the economist
Yanis Varoufakis Ioannis Georgiou "Yanis" Varoufakis (; born 24 March 1961) is a Greek economist and politician. Since 2018, he has been Secretary-General of the Democracy in Europe Movement 2025 (DiEM25), a left-wing pan-European political party he co-founde ...
to study the online economies of their games. That December, Valve acquired Star Filled Studios, a two-person studio, to open a San Francisco office. Valve closed the office in August 2013 when they decided it had little benefit. At the 2013 D.I.C.E. Summit, Newell announced that he and the film director J. J. Abrams were collaborating to produce a ''Half-Life'' or ''Portal'' film, as well as a possible game. In the 2010s, Valve released fewer games and invested in hardware development. Newell intended to make Valve more like
Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto. It develops, publishes, and releases both video games and video game consoles. The history of Nintendo began when craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi ...
, which develops games in tandem with hardware, allowing them to create innovative games such as ''
Super Mario 64 ''Super Mario 64'' is a platform game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64. It was released in Japan and North America in 1996 and PAL regions in 1997. It is the first ''Super Mario'' game to feature 3D gameplay, combini ...
''. Valve initially focused on
augmented reality Augmented reality (AR), also known as mixed reality (MR), is a technology that overlays real-time 3D computer graphics, 3D-rendered computer graphics onto a portion of the real world through a display, such as a handheld device or head-mounted ...
, but in 2013 Newell laid off many staff to focus on
virtual reality Virtual reality (VR) is a Simulation, simulated experience that employs 3D near-eye displays and pose tracking to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video gam ...
(VR). In 2015, Valve released the Steam Machine, a line of
gaming computer A gaming computer, also known as a gaming PC, is a specialized personal computer designed for playing PC games at high standards. They typically differ from mainstream personal computers by using high-performance graphics cards, a high core-co ...
s, which sold poorly. Media commentators speculated that Valve's transition to service provider with Steam, which generated an estimated $3.4 billion in 2017, had driven it away from game development. Valve canceled games including numerous ''Half-Life'' projects (including '' Episode Three''), ''Left 4 Dead 3'', a
Soulslike A Soulslike (also spelled Souls-like) is a subgenre of action role-playing games known for high difficulty level, large worlds filled with enemies and emphasis on environmental storytelling, typically in a dark fantasy setting. Japanese video ga ...
game, and a
voxel In computing, a voxel is a representation of a value on a three-dimensional regular grid, akin to the two-dimensional pixel. Voxels are frequently used in the Data visualization, visualization and analysis of medical imaging, medical and scient ...
-based game, ''A.R.T.I''. Additional VR projects included ''SimTrek'', developed by members of the ''
Kerbal Space Program ''Kerbal Space Program'' is a 2015 Space flight simulation game, space flight simulation video game developed by Mexican studio Squad for Linux, macOS, Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One. In the game, players dir ...
'' development team, and a new VR device, Vader, that was determined to be too costly for consumers. According to the designer Robin Walker, the abundance of projects that failed to gain traction, with no shared vision, damaged morale. Many players grew frustrated in anticipation of a new ''Half-Life'' game.


Source 2, virtual reality and ''Half-Life: Alyx'' (2015–present)

Valve announced the
Source 2 Source 2 is a video game engine developed by Valve. The engine was announced in 2015 as the successor to the original Source engine, with the first game to use it, ''Dota 2'', being ported from Source that same year. Other Valve games such as ...
engine in March 2015, and ported ''Dota 2'' to Source 2 in September. That year, Valve collaborated with the electronics company
HTC HTC Corporation ( zh, t=宏達國際電子股份有限公司, p=Hóngdá Guójì Diànzǐ Gǔfèn Yǒuxiàn Gōngsī, first=t), or High Tech Computer Corporation (abbreviated and trading as HTC), is a Taiwanese consumer electronics corporatio ...
to develop the
HTC Vive HTC Vive is a line of Virtual reality, virtual and mixed reality Virtual reality headset, headsets produced by HTC, HTC Corporation. The brand currently encompasses headsets designed for use with Personal computer, personal computers as well a ...
, a VR headset released in 2016. Valve experimented with VR games, and in 2016 released '' The Lab'', a collection of VR minigames. Valve recognized that many players wanted a more ambitious VR
AAA game AAA, Triple A, or Triple-A is a three-letter initialism or abbreviation which may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Gaming * AAA (video game industry) - a category of high budget video games *'' TripleA'', an open source wargame M ...
, and began exploring the development of a major VR game. They developed several prototypes, with three further VR projects under development by 2017. Finding that the portal systems of their puzzle series '' Portal'' were disorienting in VR, they settled on ''Half-Life''. Walker said that ''Half-Life 3'' had been a "terrifyingly daunting prospect", and the team saw VR as a way to return to the series. Full development of a VR ''Half-Life'' game started around late 2016, with the largest team in Valve's history. Valve acquired the 3D audio software developer Impulsonic in January 2017. In April 2018, Valve acquired the independent developer Campo Santo, known for the 2016 adventure game ''
Firewatch ''Firewatch'' is an adventure game developed by Campo Santo (company), Campo Santo and published by the developer in partnership with Panic Inc., Panic. The game was released in February 2016 for Linux, OS X, PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox ...
''. Campo Santo planned to develop its own games under Valve, though they initially helped develop ''Half-Life: Alyx''. In November 2018, Valve released '' Artifact'', a
digital collectible card game A digital collectible card game (DCCG) or online collectible card game (OCCG) is a computer or video game that emulates collectible card games (CCG) and is typically played online or occasionally as a standalone video game. Many DCCGs are types of ...
based on ''Dota 2'', with design by
Richard Garfield Richard Channing Garfield (born June 26, 1963) is an American mathematician, inventor, and game designer. Garfield created '' Magic: The Gathering'', which is considered to be the first collectible card game (CCG). ''Magic'' debuted in 1993, and ...
, the creator of '' Magic: The Gathering''. ''Artifact'' had unusual pay-for mechanics to acquire new cards, and did not draw a large playerbase, losing 95% of players months after release. In April 2021, Valve abandoned efforts to reboot the project, saying they had not found enough interested players to justify development. In June 2019, Valve released its second-generation VR hardware, the
Valve Index The Valve Index is a virtual reality headset created and manufactured by Valve Corporation, Valve. Announced on April 30, 2019, the headset was released on June 28 of the same year. The Index is a second-generation headset and the first to be f ...
. They also released ''
Dota Underlords ''Dota Underlords'' is a 2020 auto battler game developed and published by Valve. The game is based on a popular ''Dota 2'' community-created game mode called '' Dota Auto Chess'', which was released in January 2019. ''Dota Underlords'' first re ...
'' into early access, an auto battler based on a ''Dota 2'' community-created mode '' Dota Auto Chess''. In March 2020, Valve released '' Half-Life: Alyx'', a VR game. It received acclaim and was described as VR's first
killer app A killer application (often shortened to killer app) is any software that is so necessary or desirable that it proves the core value of some larger technology, such as its host computer hardware, video game console, software platform, or operati ...
. Newell said in January 2021 that the success of ''Alyx'' created desire within the company to develop more games, and that several were under development. Valve collaborated with
Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
for '' Dota: Dragon's Blood'', an animated television series based on ''
Dota ''Dota'' is a series of strategy video games. The series began in 2003 with the release of ''Defense of the Ancients'' (''DotA''), a fan-developed multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) custom map for the video game ''Warcraft III: Reign of Ch ...
'', which premiered in March 2021. In February 2022, Valve released the
Steam Deck The Steam Deck is a handheld gaming computer produced by Valve Corporation, designed to run a portion of games available on the Steam storefront client. Built upon the experiences gained from Valve's earlier ventures with Steam Machine and th ...
, a portable game system that runs on
SteamOS SteamOS is an Arch Linux-based Linux distribution developed by Valve. It incorporates Valve's video game storefront Steam; it is also the official operating system for the Steam Deck, Valve's portable gaming device, as well as Valve's earlier ...
. In September 2023, Valve released ''
Counter-Strike 2 ''Counter-Strike 2'' is a 2023 free-to-play Tactical shooter, tactical first-person shooter video game, game developed and published by Valve Corporation, Valve. It is the fifth entry in the ''Counter-Strike'' series, developed as an updated v ...
''. It received generally favorable reviews, but player reception was mixed. In 2024, Valve began beta-testing a new multiplayer game, ''
Deadlock Deadlock commonly refers to: * Deadlock (computer science), a situation where two processes are each waiting for the other to finish * Deadlock (locksmithing) or deadbolt, a physical door locking mechanism * Political deadlock or gridlock, a si ...
'', a combination of a
hero shooter A hero shooter is a subgenre of shooter games which emphasize "hero" characters that have distinctive abilities and/or weapons that are specific to them. This type of gameplay encourages players to choose heroes based on their strengths and the r ...
and
MOBA Multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) is a subgenre of strategy video games in which two teams of players compete on a structured battlefield, each controlling a single character with distinctive abilities that grow stronger as the match progr ...
. In September, staff members from Hopoo Games, developers of '' Risk of Rain'', announced that they had been employed at Valve. According to a report by ''Forbes Australia'' published in December 2024, Valve had an annual revenue of $5 billion by 2023, with a 40% profit margin. Steam accounted for around 60% of this revenue, double that of 2019.


Structure

Initially, Valve used a hierarchical structure more typical of other development firms, driven by the nature of physical game releases through publishers that required tasks to be completed by deadlines. However, as Valve became its own publisher via Steam, it found the hierarchical structure was hindering progress. After completing ''Half-Life 2'', Valve transitioned to a
flat organization A flat organization (or horizontal organization) is an organizational structure with few levels of management between staff and executives. An organizational structure refers to the nature of the distribution of the units and positions within it, ...
; outside of executive management, Valve does not have bosses, and uses an
open allocation Open allocation refers to a style of management in which employees are given a high degree of freedom in choosing what projects to work on, and how to allocate their time. They do not necessarily answer to a single manager, but to the company and ...
system. Valve's marketing manager, Doug Lombardi, said: "Nobody writes a design doc and hands it to somebody and says, 'you go build this'. It's the teams that are coming up with the ideas and pushing in the directions that they want to take the product." This approach allows employees to work on whatever interests them, but requires them to take ownership of their product and mistakes they may make, according to Newell. Newell recognized that this structure works well for some but that "there are plenty of great developers for whom this is a terrible place to work". Following the difficult development of ''Half-Life 2'', Newell said he became "obsessed" with improving Valve's work-life balance. Although Valve has no bosses, some employees hold more influence due to seniority or relationships. De facto project leads became "centralized conduits" for organization and sharing information, and decisions are made collectively. Valve uses a process named Overwatch to gather feedback from senior members, which teams may use or ignore. The success of Steam means that Valve is not dependent on the success of its games. The lack of organization structure has led to project cancellations, as it can be difficult to convince other employees to work on them. In 2020, Valve acknowledged that this made it difficult to gather momentum and had slowed their output during the 2010s. Their VR projects and ''Half-Life: Alyx'' became a turning point, setting short-term studio-wide goals to focus the company. According to Walker, "We sort of had to collectively admit we were wrong on the premise that you will be happiest if you work on something you personally want to work on the most." In January 2023, '' People Make Games'' released a report on Valve's corporate structure and culture, based on interviews with several current and former employees. They found that Valve's flat structure and stack-ranking compensation system created a poor release record and a lack of employee diversity. In 2024, ''Forbes'' estimated that Newell owned 50.1% of Valve, with the rest owned by employees. As part of Wolfire Games' lawsuit over Steam policies, case documents revealed details related to Valve's employee structure. Starting with 60 employees in 2003, Valve grew to around 350 employees around 2012 and remained around this number through 2021. Up through 2010, the employees were categorized in three areas, administration, game development, and Steam development; in 2011, a hardware development category was added.


Valve time

Valve time is an industry term used jokingly with game releases from Valve, used to acknowledge the difference between the "promised" date for released content stated by Valve and to the "actual" release date; "Valve Time" includes delays but also includes some content that was released earlier than expected. Valve has acknowledged the term, including tracking known discrepancies between ideal and actual releases on their public development wiki and using it in announcements about such delays. Valve ascribes delays to their mentality of team-driven initiatives over corporate deadlines.


Playtesting

Valve
playtest A playtest is the process by which a game designer tests a new game for bugs and design flaws before releasing it to market. Playtests can be run "open", "closed", "beta", or otherwise, and are very common with board games, collectible card games, ...
s its games extensively from the beginning of development, and iterates based on the results. Its website states: "We believe that all game designers are, in a sense, experimental psychologists." The Valve writer Chet Faliszek said he initially blamed testers when they failed to engage with designs as expected, but changed his mind when multiple testers had the same problem: "By the third or fourth time, all of a sudden you're realizing, 'I'm an idiot. This is pretty obvious this doesn't work. It's not their fault, it's our fault.'" He gave an example from the development of ''Left 4 Dead'', wherein a
texture Texture may refer to: Science and technology * Image texture, the spatial arrangement of color or intensities in an image * Surface texture, the smoothness, roughness, or bumpiness of the surface of an object * Texture (roads), road surface c ...
change caused every tester to miss a ladder and become stuck. Walker said playtesting helped Valve maximize the experience for players. For example, when something exciting occurs by chance during a playtest, the developers attempt to have it occur for every player.Bramwell, Tom (September 8, 2007). "Opening the Valve". ''
Eurogamer ''Eurogamer'' is a British video game journalism website launched in 1999 alongside parent company Gamer Network. In 2008, it started in the formerly eponymous trade fair EGX (Eurogamer Expo until 2013) organised by its parent company. Fr ...
''. Retrieved December 15, 2023.
Newell contrasted this approach to that of
Warren Spector Warren Evan Spector (born October 2, 1955) is an American role-playing and video game designer, director, writer, producer and production designer. He is known for creating immersive sim games, which give players a wide variety of choices in how ...
, whose open-ended games are designed to be replayed with different outcomes: "You spend all of this time to build stuff that most players will never ever ever see ... If only one per cent of your customers see this cool thing that takes five per cent of your development budget, that's not a good use of resources."


Engines


GoldSrc

The first game engine Valve developed is GoldSrc, a modified version of the ''Quake'' engine by
id Software id Software LLC () is an American video game developer based in Richardson, Texas. It was founded on February 1, 1991, by four members of the computer company Softdisk: game programmer, programmers John Carmack and John Romero, game designer T ...
. It was first used with Half-Life on November 19, 1998. All Valve games that released in the period before the release of their next engine, the Source engine, used GoldSrc, with examples being Half-Life, Counter-Strike, Ricochet, and others.


Source

Valve's second engine is the Source engine. The Source engine was proprietary and completely built from the ground up, not derivative of their original GoldSrc engine. It was first used in Half-Life: Source on November 1st, 2004, which was met with critical reviews. Only weeks later on November 16, 2004 however, Half-Life 2 was released, which was the main showcase of the capabilities of the Source engine, with the biggest improvements being the graphical fidelity for the time and the advanced physics engine. Examples of games created in the Source engine include
Half-Life 2 ''Half-Life 2'' is a 2004 first-person shooter game developed and published by Valve Corporation. It was published for Windows on Valve's digital distribution service, Steam. Like the original ''Half-Life'' (1998), ''Half-Life 2'' is played ent ...
and it's
episodes Episodes may refer to: * Episode, a part of a dramatic work * Episodes (TV series), ''Episodes'' (TV series), a British/American television sitcom which premiered in 2011 * Episodes (journal), ''Episodes'' (journal), a geological science journal ...
, Portal 1 & 2, Left 4 Dead 1 and Left 4 Dead 2, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (defunct, now
Counter-Strike 2 ''Counter-Strike 2'' is a 2023 free-to-play Tactical shooter, tactical first-person shooter video game, game developed and published by Valve Corporation, Valve. It is the fifth entry in the ''Counter-Strike'' series, developed as an updated v ...
on Source 2),
Team Fortress 2 ''Team Fortress 2'' (''TF2'') is a Multiplayer video game, multiplayer first-person shooter game developed and published by Valve Corporation in 2007. It is the sequel to the 1996 ''Team Fortress'' Mod (video gaming), mod for ''Quake (video g ...
, and
Dota 2 ''Dota 2'' is a 2013 multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) video game by Valve Corporation, Valve. The game is a sequel to ''Defense of the Ancients'' (''DotA''), a community-created Mod (video gaming), mod for Blizzard Entertainment's ''War ...
, which was originally on Source, but was updated to Source 2 in 2015.


Source 2

The latest
proprietary {{Short pages monitor