50 Fun Facts About Valve

Valve was founded in 1996 by Mike Harrington and which other former Microsoft employee?

Newell had spent 13 years at Microsoft, including work on the Windows 95 port of Doom.

To which Washington city did Valve move its headquarters in 2003?

It started in Kirkland, about five miles from the Microsoft campus, before the 2003 move.

What was Valve's debut game, released in November 1998?

IGN later said FPS history 'breaks down pretty cleanly into pre-Half-Life and post-Half-Life eras'.

Valve was founded on which personal occasion for Newell?

The date was August 24, 1996.

Which of these was a rejected alternative name for Valve?

Hollow Box and Fruitfly Ensemble were also considered; Newell wanted nothing 'testosterone-gorged'.

Valve's GoldSrc engine was a modified version of which id Software engine?

Source was later built from scratch to replace it.

Which publisher did Valve eventually sign with for its debut game?

The deal gave Sierra the Half-Life IP until Valve renegotiated in 2001.

Which studio made the expansions Opposing Force, Blue Shift and Decay?

Gearbox later went on to make Borderlands.

In what year did Mike Harrington sell his stake in Valve to Newell?

He left happy with the company's success after Half-Life.

Which company's digital-storefront offer did Valve use as leverage against Sierra in 2001?

The amended deal handed Valve the Half-Life IP and online distribution rights.

In which year was Steam launched?

It was announced at the 2002 Game Developers Conference and at first only delivered patches for Valve's own games.

Installing which 2004 game made Steam mandatory for players?

It had sold 12 million copies by 2011.

What is the name of the in-house engine Valve built to succeed GoldSrc?

Source 2 followed in 2015 and powers Dota 2, Counter-Strike 2 and Half-Life: Alyx.

Portal grew out of which student project?

Tag: The Power of Paint, another DigiPen project, supplied Portal 2's gel mechanics.

What was the 2007 bundle containing Portal, Team Fortress 2 and Episode Two called?

A smaller Black Box was announced at the same time; EA distributed both.

Which studio did Valve acquire in 2008 and rename Valve South?

It made Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2 before spinning back out in 2010.

Which Warcraft III mod developer did Valve hire in 2009 to lead Dota 2?

Eul, the mod's original creator, also joined Valve by 2010.

What is the name of Valve's annual Dota 2 esports tournament, begun in 2011?

Its prize pool is boosted by battle-pass microtransactions.

Which economist did Valve hire in 2012 to study its in-game economies?

He later became Greece's finance minister.

Which film director did Newell announce a movie collaboration with in 2013?

The announcement came at the D.I.C.E. Summit.

Which Taiwanese company partnered with Valve on the Vive VR headset?

Its Lighthouse base stations allowed room-scale VR.

What was Valve's 2016 collection of VR minigames called?

It runs on Source 2.

Which Firewatch developer did Valve acquire in April 2018?

The studio initially helped develop Half-Life: Alyx.

Which Magic: The Gathering creator designed Valve's card game Artifact?

Artifact lost 95% of its players within months and was abandoned in 2021.

What was the company's second-generation VR headset, released in June 2019, called?

Its controllers strap to the palm and detect individual fingers.

Which 2020 VR game was hailed as virtual reality's first killer app?

Full development began around late 2016 with the largest team in Valve's history.

Which streaming service aired the animated Dota: Dragon's Blood from March 2021?

Valve collaborated on the series.

What compatibility layer lets Windows games run on the Linux-based Steam Deck?

The Deck shipped in February 2022 on SteamOS.

Which chipmaker supplies the customised Zen 2 and RDNA 2 silicon in the Steam Deck?

An OLED model with better battery life and more storage arrived in November 2023.

What is the name of the hero-shooter/MOBA hybrid Valve began beta-testing in 2024?

Staff from Hopoo Games, makers of Risk of Rain, joined Valve that September.

Valve's standalone VR headset announced in November 2025 is called what?

Its 2026 release was delayed by the RAM crisis.

What was the starting price of the 2026 Steam Machine's base model?

Limited production due to memory shortages forced a randomised reservation system.

What is the industry's joking term for the studio's unreliable release dates?

Valve tracks the discrepancies on its own public development wiki.

What does Valve call its process for gathering feedback from senior staff?

Teams are free to use or ignore the feedback.

Which Valve writer recalled testers all missing a ladder in Left 4 Dead after a texture change?

He said the repeated failures taught him 'it's not their fault, it's our fault'.

Forbes estimated in 2024 that Newell owned what share of Valve?

The rest is owned by employees.

Roughly how many employees did Valve have between 2012 and 2021, per the Wolfire lawsuit?

It had only 60 in 2003.

Which Luxembourg subsidiary sold games to UK users at lower VAT?

It ceased business on January 1, 2017.

Which judge ruled in Valve's favour against Vivendi in November 2004?

A Korean-speaking intern translated documents suggesting Vivendi had destroyed evidence.

How much was Valve awarded by the arbitrator in the Vivendi dispute?

Activision later paid only part of it, prompting a 2009 suit.

Which project was renamed Heroes of the Storm after the 2012 Dota settlement?

Valve kept commercial rights to the Dota name; fans kept non-commercial use.

How much was Valve fined by an Australian court in 2016 over Steam refunds?

The High Court of Australia dismissed Valve's final appeal in April 2018.

Which French consumer group won a 2019 ruling that Steam games must be resellable?

The Paris Court of Appeal overturned it in 2022 and the Supreme Court agreed in 2024.

Which developer filed the 2021 antitrust suit over Steam's revenue cut?

It became a class action in November 2024.

Which networking company joined Valve on the PowerPlay low-latency initiative in 2000?

It was abandoned 12 months after its announcement.

Valve's 2013 intern project for ten high school students was called what?

It broke Valve's habit of hiring only experienced developers.

What was the name of the cancelled Valve fantasy role-playing game?

The Crossing, made with Arkane, was another casualty in 2009.

Which canceled VR device did Valve deem too costly for consumers?

SimTrek, from Kerbal Space Program veterans, was another scrapped VR project.

Which distributor replaced Vivendi for Valve's retail games under a 2005 deal?

Vivendi Universal's distribution ended on August 31 that year.

Valve's September 2023 sequel in its tactical shooter series was titled what?

Reviews were generally favourable but player reception was mixed.