Valve Corporation
Valve Corporation is an American video game developer, publisher, hardware, and digital distribution company headquartered in Bellevue, Washington. It is the developer of game franchises including Half-Life, Counter-Strike, Portal, Team Fortress, Left 4 Dead and Dota, the software service Steam, and hardware including the Steam Machine, Steam Deck and Valve Index.
Founded1996
FoundersGabe Newell, Mike Harrington
HeadquartersBellevue, Washington, USA
Websitewww.valvesoftware.com
▸ TIMELINE
1996 Founded by Gabe Newell and Mike Harrington, both former Microsoft employees.
1998 Released Half-Life, Valve's debut product and the start of a flagship franchise.
2003 Launched Steam as a software client for automatically updating Valve's own games — it later grew into the dominant PC game distribution platform.
2022 Released the Steam Deck, a handheld gaming PC running SteamOS, marking Valve's pivot to fully in-house hardware after the Steam Machine's OEM-based approach.
▸ NOTABLE PRODUCTS
Half-LifeCounter-StrikePortalTeam FortressLeft 4 DeadDota 2SteamSteam MachineSteam DeckValve Index
▸ PIXPAUSE RECEIPTS ON VALVE CORPORATION