Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
Valve history
Valve company history timeline
Valve was founded in 1996 by former Microsoft employees Gabe Newell and Mike Harrington.
Happy with Valve's success, Harrington left in 2000.
In 2002, Valve launched Steam, a digital storefront and delivery platform.
In 2003, Valve moved to Bellevue, Washington, and reincorporated as Valve Corporation.
Under the settlement, VU Games will cease distribution of retail packaged versions of Valve's games, effective August 31, 2005.
Forbes estimated that Valve had grossed $70 million in 2005.
Half-Life 2: Episode One, the first in a planned trilogy of games continuing the Half-Life 2 story, was released in 2006.
Episode Two followed in 2007, alongside the multiplayer game Team Fortress 2, and the puzzle game Portal, developed from the student project Narbacular Drop.
In January 2008, Valve announced the acquisition of Turtle Rock Studios, which was renamed Valve South.
Turtle Rock Studios later spun out of Valve again in March 2010.
In 2010, the office moved to a larger location in Bellevue.
Valve released fewer games in the 2010s.
Valve released Portal 2 in April 2011.
Most of Valve's revenue comes from Steam, which controlled 50 to 70% of the market for downloaded PC games in 2011.
Alongside Dota 2 in 2011, Valve started The International, an annual eSports tournament for Dota 2 with a prize pool supported by Valve and funds from microtransactions from battle passes purchased by players.
In December 2012, Valve acquired Star Filled Studios, a two-person studio, to open a San Francisco office.
IceFrog led the development of a sequel not associated with the Warcraft elements, Dota 2, released in 2013.
At the 2013 D.I.C.E. Summit, Newell announced that he and film director J. J. Abrams were collaborating to produce a Half-Life or Portal film, as well as a possible game.
Valve announced the Source 2 engine in March 2015 and ported Dota 2 to it that September.
In 2016, Valve signed a nine-floor lease in the Lincoln Square complex in downtown Bellevue, doubling the size of their offices.
Full development of a VR Half-Life game started around late 2016, with the largest team in Valve's history.
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.
In November 2018, Valve released Artifact, a digital collectible card game based on Dota 2, with design by Richard Garfield, the creator of Magic: The Gathering.
In June 2019, Valve released its second-generation VR hardware, the Valve Index.
In March 2020, Valve released Half-Life: Alyx, a VR game.
Valve collaborated with Netflix for Dota: Dragon's Blood, an animated television series based on Dota, to premiere in March 2021.
In April 2021, Valve abandoned its efforts to reboot the project, saying they had not found enough interested players to justify development.
Valve announced the Steam Deck, a portable gaming PC that runs off SteamOS, in July 2021.
Rate how well Valve lives up to its initial vision.
Valve jobs
Do you work at Valve?
Does Valve communicate its history to new hires?
Valve competitors
| Company name | Founded date | Revenue | Employee size | Job openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Immedia Llc | - | $29.6M | 150 | - |
| Altek Electronics | 1972 | $46.8M | 100 | 32 |
| NLB Services | 2007 | $300.0M | 1,800 | 662 |
| Tdk | - | $1.4T | 102,883 | 35 |
| Surefire | - | $5.5M | 20 | - |
| Peavey Electronics | 1965 | $271.0M | 2,400 | - |
| Applied Tech | 1999 | $7.0M | 300 | 51 |
| McGregor Surmount | 1975 | $13.0M | 100 | - |
| MiTek | 1955 | $20.0M | 125 | 41 |
| Global Ground Automation | 1999 | $12.0M | 750 | - |
Valve history FAQs
Zippia gives an in-depth look into the details of Valve, including salaries, political affiliations, employee data, and more, in order to inform job seekers about Valve. The employee data is based on information from people who have self-reported their past or current employments at Valve. The data on this page is also based on data sources collected from public and open data sources on the Internet and other locations, as well as proprietary data we licensed from other companies. Sources of data may include, but are not limited to, the BLS, company filings, estimates based on those filings, H1B filings, and other public and private datasets. While we have made attempts to ensure that the information displayed are correct, Zippia is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of this information. None of the information on this page has been provided or approved by Valve. The data presented on this page does not represent the view of Valve and its employees or that of Zippia.
Valve may also be known as or be related to Valve, Valve Corporation, Valve Software and Valve, L.L.C. (1996–2003).