Valve

Valve is a privately held game company based in Bellevue, Washington. Gabe Newell and Mike Harrington, both former Microsoft employees, founded it in 1996. Its first game, Half-Life, came out in 1998 and was praised for its storytelling.

Valve went on to make Counter-Strike, Team Fortress, Portal, Left 4 Dead and Dota 2. It has a flat management style with no formal bosses, described in its public employee handbook. Valve releases games rarely, and fans often joke about the long wait for a third Half-Life game. Half-Life: Alyx, a virtual reality title, arrived in 2020.

Steam, launched in 2003, is the largest digital store for PC games and also handles updates, friends lists and community features. Valve makes the Steam Deck handheld PC and the Index VR headset. It takes a percentage of sales on Steam, which has drawn legal and regulatory attention. Valve also operates the Steam Workshop, where players share mods and items. The company has funded itself from Steam sales without outside investors. Newell has said the company prefers small teams that choose their own projects.