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How Valve Grew into the Company it is Today

9/24/2023

If you ever played highly-acclaimed games such as Half-Life, Left 4 Dead, Portal, or Counter-Strike, you likely know about Valve. This company started when two passionate workers left their Microsoft job to start building their game studio; skip some years forward, and we have one of the biggest game corporations in the world.

 

One of Valve’s most popular products (if not the most popular product) was Steam, the best PC gaming platform there is right now. Like any other company, Valve started small, and it slowly gained its reputation as a huge game developer and publisher.

 

How Did Valve Start? 

 

Valve started when ex-Microsoft employees Gabe Newell and Michael Harrington started to build their game studio in 1996. Their first ever product was Half-Life, which was a huge success worldwide since it innovated upon the first-person shooter world with a fascinating story and game mechanics.

 

After Half Life’s success, Valve started the development of several games and mods. These games/expansions/mods involved:

 

  • Team Fortress Classic (1999)
  • Half-Life: Opposing Force (1999)
  • Deathmatch Classic (2000)
  • Counter Strike (2000)
  • Half-Life Blue Shift (2001)

 

While all of these games did amazingly in ratings, it wasn’t until 2003 where Valve started to get recognized as a big game corporation.

 

The Origin of Steam

 

In 2003, Valve launched its PC game marketplace, “Steam.” Back then, downloading games to your PC was getting even more common and popular, so Steam was already looking at a high success rate. One of the most significant features of Steam was that third-party developers could sell their games through Steam by giving a 30% cut of the sales to Valve (This wasn’t added until 2005).

 

When Half-Life 2 was released in 2004, Steam skyrocketed in sales and new users since you had to sign up for Steam if you wanted to play the game. When 2005 came along, people started to see third-party games on Valve’s platform, making it more popular.

 

Two years later, Valve added community forums and a better search engine for users, which shaped Steam to be a platform to buy games and also discover new players. From there on, Steam has been adding many new features that improve the user experience.

 

Valve’s Popularity

 

From 2007 to this day, Valve has developed some of the world’s best videogame franchises. Some of these games include Team Fortress 2, Portal, Left 4 Dead, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Dota 2, and the recent Half-Life: Alyx. 

 

Aside from game development, Valve has tweaked its business model by adding in-game microtransactions for some of its games. This includes character outfits, rare loot boxes, and other additions that keep Valve’s earnings to millions of dollars each year.

 

In essence, Valve’s immense popularity is because it has developed some of the best videogames in history. An example would be Counter-Strike, which has been continuously evolving since its debut in 2000, and it’s still thriving almost 20 years later. Combining this with the microtransaction business model, the company has earned its place as one of the most popular game corporations in the world right now.

 

Conclusion

 

While Valve has slowed down the production rate of its own games to focus on microtransactions, it's still delivering action-packed games that people are going to remember for many years to come. Valve is, without a doubt, an essential piece of gaming history, and many players’ best gaming moments have come thanks to the company’s efforts.