Valve Corporation

Valve Corporation is a company known for popular game series' such as the Half-Life, Counter-Strike, Team Fortress, Portal, and the recently released Left 4 Dead.

Franchises

Half-Life ~ Counter-Strike ~ Team Fortress ~ Day of Defeat ~ Portal ~ Left 4 Dead

Overview

Valve Software was founded in Bellevue, Washington in 1996. They quickly made their mark on PC gaming history with their debut title, Half-Life; a game which went on to receive numerous "Game of the Year" awards and is still regarded as one of the genre-defining FPS games. Half-Life went on to spawn multiple expansion packs and several multiplayer mods, including Counter-Strike, which to this day is still one of the most played online shooters.

Dog & Alyx from HL2.

After the success of Half-Life, Valve laid fairly quiet for a number of years making tweaks and improvements to their ever-popular Counter-Strike. Then, in 2004, Valve once again shocked PC gamers with the critically acclaimed sequel to Half-Life, simply titled Half-Life 2. The game quickly became known for its incredible story, smooth gameplay, and infinitely fun physics system that could be easily manipulated via the Gravity Gun. Released alongside Half-Life 2 was the follow-up to their popular online shooter Counter-Strike, titled Counter-Strike: Source. Both Half-Life 2 and Counter-Strike: Source were the first games to make use of Valve's new, in-house Source Engine.

Valve planned episodic releases for the Half-Life 2 storyline, and they released the first of these in 2006, titled Half-Life 2: Episode One. Following the release of Episode One, Valve began work on The Orange Box. The Orange Box was to be a five-game package for the PC, Xbox 360, and PS3, which included HL2, HL2: Episode One, HL2: Episode Two, Team Fortress 2, and Portal.

Portal - A picture is worth a thousand words.

Team Fortress 2 was the sequel to the popular multiplayer game Team Fortress: Classic, though it took a much more stylized approach with visuals reminiscent of a Pixar film. Portal, inspired by a student project titled Narbacular Drop, was one of the more unique games released in recent memory. The game saw the player navigating the Aperture Science Enrichment Center using a Portal Gun to teleport and maneuver through physics-based puzzles. The Orange Box was released in 2007, and unsurprisingly garnered much critical acclaim.

Valve is currently working on Portal 2, Half-Life 2: Episode Three, and is rumored to be working on a true sequel to Counter-Strike.

History

Beginnings

Valve was set up on August 24th 1996 by two former Microsoft employees: Gabe Newell and Mike Harrington. They were based in Kirkland, WA and were a Limited Liable Company (L.L.C). While still at Microsoft both Newell and Harrington played key roles in the development and success of Microsoft's Window's operating system.

Gabe Newell.

After acquiring the rights to the Quake Engine from id Software Valve began working on their first game Half-life. Set to become a company tradition, the game suffered several delays and restarts and was pushed back from it's intended release in 1997 to the end of 1998.

The game was eventually released on November 19th 1998 by Sierra Online. It received universal accolades for it's immersive environments, interactiveness and unique narrative all while still being a solid FPS. This was combined with commercial success and as of 2008 the game has sold in excess of 9.8 million copies.

Valve would continue the development philosophy on Half-life in their later games which is a partial reason to their success and loyal fanbase.

Mod and Indie Support

What Valve Corporation is best known for is their big support on user created content. When Half Life was first released in 1998, mods were created to expand the multiplayer. One of these mods was Counter Strike. When Counter Strike was first released as a free mod, it quickly became a hit. Valve liked what they seen in the mod. On April 20, 2000, Valve hired the Counter Strike developers in order to make a full game out of the mod. Thus Half Life: Counter Strike was born.

Many other mods would be created for Half Life, including Team Fortress (which was released as a Quake mod before coming to Half Life) and Day of Defeat.

Scene from Garry's Mod

When Valve released the Steam client in 2003, there wasn't much support in their store. As they expanded within the next few years, Valve decided to bring some modders and indie developers to make games for the Steam service. Valve gives modders the proper tools to make mods. When Half Life 2 was released, it introduced the new Source engine. To bring in modders, Valve releases the Source SDK. It became the standard tool to create new maps, new enemies, and even new games for Valve's titles.

The most famous out of all of the Source mods is Garry's Mod. Created in 2004 by Garry Newman, Garry's Mod was a simple mod tool used to play in maps with the ragdolls from many Source games, life Half Life 2, Counter Strike: Source, Team Fortress 2, and Left 4 Dead. It soon became one of the biggest mods for Half Life 2. Now the simple mod has expanded into a tool used b many people, from modders to machinima makers. In fact, version 11 is available on Steam and is now considered a game (but still needs Source games to run).

Indie games became an important part of Steam. With the introduction of Steamworks, Valve has been trying to get the community involved with the service. Games like Audiosurf and World of Goo became a big part of the Steam service, expanding its library of games from the regular publishers to the new indie developers getting a good start in gaming.

Important Dates

August 24th, 1996 - Valve Software is set up by Gabe Newell and Mike Harrington.
November 19th, 1998 - Half-life is released.
March 25th, 1999 - Counter Strike is released as a mod for Half-life.
Scene for Half-life.
April 7th, 1999 - Team Fortress Classic is released, a remake of the original Quake mod based on the GoldSrc engine.
January 15th 2000 - Mike Harrington dissolves his partnership with Valve, giving Gabe Newell full control.
April 20th, 2000 - Valve hires the developers of Counter Strike.
2003 - Valve moves to Bellvue, WA after becoming a corporation.
September 12th, 2003 - Valve releases its Steam client.
November 16th, 2004 - Half-life 2 is finally released, after numerous delays and complications, to glowing reviews.
June 1st 2006 - HL2: Episode 1 is released. The first of a planned trilogy that were supposed to be released in a short period.
October 10h, 2007 - The Orange Box is released. It includes the following games: Team Fortress 2 (which spent 5 years in development), Portal and HL2: Episode 2.
November 18th, 2008 - Valve releases Left 4 Dead.
November 17, 2009-Valve releases Left 4 Dead 2, the sequel to the previous year's big hit. Months before, there was some huge controversy, evven having a boycott on the game. However, the game still sells well being at #1 on Steam.

Key Figures

Doug Lombardi.
Gabe Newell - Co-founder and Managing Director.
Doug Lombardi - Vice-President of Marketing.
Marc Laidlaw - Writer - Sole writer on Half-Life 1 and 2. Lead writer on HL Episodes.
Erik Wolpaw - Writer - Head writer for Portal and writer on HL episodes.
Chet Faliszek - Writer - Lead writer on Left 4 Dead and writer on HL episodes.
Robin Walker - Software Developer - Was co-creator of the original TF Quake mode and is one of the lead designers of Team Fortress 2.
Doug Wood - Animator - Lead animator on Half-life series and other Valve games.

blog	Flustrations!!!	Kyreo
blog	Alliance of Valiant Arms is addicting, feels like Counter-Strike	Naritus
blog	Games of the Year: Part 5, 2004-2008	TheKidNixon
blog	Top 10 Developers for the Xbox 360	AndrewG009
blog	THE WAR! UPDATE AND WHAT MAY HAPPEN IF IT DOESN'T FINISH SOON!	SL33TBL1ND
blog	This is why Team Fortress 2 Pubs aren't fun for Comp Players	WildFire
forum	Zenimax (Bethesda) setting eyes on Valve ?	Killjoi
news	The Next DOTA, Coming To You From... Valve?	Brad

Company Name	Valve Corporation
Street Address	PO BOX 1688
City	Bellevue, WA 98009
State	Washington
Country	United States of America
Website	http://www.valvesoftware.com
Contact Email	contact@valvesoftware.com
Phone Number	425-889-9642
Date Founded	Aug. 24, 1996
Count of Games Published	49
Count of Games Developed	23
Aliases

Gordon Freeman first in Half-Life	22
G-Man first in Half-Life	17
Barney Calhoun first in Half-Life	16
Isaac Kleiner first in Half-Life	15
Eli Vance first in Half-Life	13
Alyx Vance first in Half-Life 2	13
Dog first in Half-Life 2	12
Judith Mossman first in Half-Life 2	12
Wallace Breen first in Half-Life 2	10
Lamarr first in Half-Life 2	9