History Creator / ValveCorporation

** Not to mention they were on their second UsefulNotes/GameEngine, the increasingly dated Source engine, for about 11 years. Its successor debuting in a 2015 ''Dota 2'' update bears the [[SarcasmMode incredibly creative name]] "Source 2".

In March 2010, Valve announced that they would be porting Steam, the Source Engine, and their entire back catalog to UsefulNotes/MacOS X. In June 2010, at E3, Gabe Newell made a surprise announcement that ''Portal 2'' and Steam would be coming to the UsefulNotes/PlayStation3 to thunderous applause. They later gained the love of 99% of Linux users when they released the public beta of a Linux port in late December 2012, with an official release appearing in February 2013. At present, this is only officially supported on Debian-based distros, but other users have had some success at running it on Fedora- and Arch-based systems. This is later amplified in 2018 when they announced the work of "Proton", their interpretation of Play On Linux (which used the Wine codebase) that theoretically will allow all Steam games to run on Linux, with (as of currently) mixed results.

** The most well known was Gabe Newell's initial reaction to the UsefulNotes/PlayStation3, which he said that the system was "[[https://web.archive.org/web/20160611151009/http://www.1up.com/news/gabe-newell-ps3-total-disaster a total disaster on so many levels]]". This caused many of the early adopters that dared to adopt the then expensive platform to respond. Even though Gabe didn't see the [=XBox=] as very good of a platform, either, Valve decided to develop in house for it. Gabe didn't help smooth over relations with the [=PS3=] fanbase by outsourcing The Orange Box's [=PS3=] port to Creator/ElectronicArts, in which was seen as a total disaster. Over the years that followed, Gabe tried to slowly mend the relationship while still holding to his convictions, with having a new criticism for the system when a previous one was either fixed or debunked. Gabe had even admitted that he had many requests for Valve to develop for the system.

[[caption-width-right:350:[[VideoGame/HalfLife Physicists fighting aliens]], [[VideoGame/{{Portal}} guns that make portals]], [[VideoGame/TeamFortress2 the source of many a good YouTube meme]], [[UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} one of the biggest digital gaming stores of all time]], [[BreadEggsMilkSquick and water spigots getting drilled in your head]]. Gotta love Valve.]]

In 2004, they launched one of the first UsefulNotes/{{digital distribution}} platforms, along with the [[VideoGame/HalfLife2 sequel]] to ''Half-Life'' which used it exclusively -- and thus was born UsefulNotes/{{Steam}}, which went on to become the biggest digital distribution platform for Windows and a license to print money for Valve. Because Valve is such a small company, they have also developed something of a reputation for having literally more money than they know what to do with. A fair bit of it seems to go into flying fans out to visit their headquarters. [[http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/94640-L4D-Modder-Raising-Funds-to-Fly-Gabe-Newell-to-Australia Just don't get presumptuous.]]

** ''Counter-Strike 2'' (in development)

Valve was founded on August 24, 1996 by former Microsoft employees Gabe Newell and Mike Harrington, inspired by learning that the only piece of software more commonly installed on DOS computers than Windows was ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}''. Once they secured a license to use the ''VideoGame/{{Quake}}'' engine, Valve set about to create their first game, ''VideoGame/HalfLife1''. Since the game's release in 1998, Valve has been known for their revolutionary first-person action games.

In 2004, they launched one of the first DigitalDistribution platforms, along with the [[VideoGame/HalfLife2 sequel]] to ''Half-Life'' which used it exclusively -- and thus was born UsefulNotes/{{Steam}}, which went on to become the biggest digital distribution platform for Windows and a license to print money for Valve. Because Valve is such a small company, they have also developed something of a reputation for having literally more money than they know what to do with. A fair bit of it seems to go into flying fans out to visit their headquarters. [[http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/94640-L4D-Modder-Raising-Funds-to-Fly-Gabe-Newell-to-Australia Just don't get presumptuous.]]

In 2004, they launched one of the first digital distribution platforms, along with the [[VideoGame/HalfLife2 sequel]] to ''Half-Life'' which used it exclusively -- and thus was born UsefulNotes/{{Steam}}, which went on to become the biggest digital distribution platform for Windows and a license to print money for Valve. Because Valve is such a small company, they have also developed something of a reputation for having literally more money than they know what to do with. A fair bit of it seems to go into flying fans out to visit their headquarters. [[http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/94640-L4D-Modder-Raising-Funds-to-Fly-Gabe-Newell-to-Australia Just don't get presumptuous.]]

* ''[[VideoGame/SiN SiN Episodes: Emergence]]''

In fact, the majority of Valve's own oeuvre -- ''VideoGame/CounterStrike'', ''VideoGame/DayOfDefeat'', ''[[VideoGame/TeamFortressClassic Team Fortress]]'', ''VideoGame/DOTA2'', and the free ''VideoGame/AlienSwarm'' -- were originally the product of mod teams (though only the first two were mods of their own engine originally), who were then recruited to work for Valve and whose games were re-released as commercial titles. Of its flagship titles, only the ''Half-Life'' series was actually created by Valve directly; ''VideoGame/{{Portal}}'' was adapted from a concept game made by a bunch of college students, and ''Left 4 Dead'' was started by another company that Valve later bought out.

In fact, the majority of Valve's own oeuvre -- ''VideoGame/CounterStrike'', ''VideoGame/DayOfDefeat'', ''VideoGame/TeamFortress'', ''VideoGame/DOTA2'', and the free ''VideoGame/AlienSwarm'' -- were originally the product of mod teams (though only the first two were mods of their own engine originally), who were then recruited to work for Valve and whose games were re-released as commercial titles. Of its flagship titles, only the ''Half-Life'' series was actually created by Valve directly; ''VideoGame/{{Portal}}'' was adapted from a concept game made by a bunch of college students, and ''Left 4 Dead'' was started by another company that Valve later bought out.

[[caption-width-right:350:[[VideoGame/HalfLife Physicists fighting aliens]], [[VideoGame/{{Portal}} guns that make portals]], [[VideoGame/TeamFortress2 the source of many a good YouTube meme]], [[UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} one of the biggest digital gaming stores of all time]], [[BreadEggsMilkSquick and water spigots getting drilled in your head.]] Gotta love Valve.]]

[[http://valvesoftware.com Valve Corporation]], formerly called Valve Software, was founded on August 24, 1996 by former Microsoft employees Gabe Newell and Mike Harrington, inspired by learning that the only piece of software more commonly installed on DOS computers than Windows was ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}''. Once they secured a license to use the ''VideoGame/{{Quake}}'' engine, Valve set about to create their first game... ''VideoGame/HalfLife1'' was released in 1998 and ever since, Valve has been known for their revolutionary and amazing First-Person action games. In 2004, they launched one of the first digital distribution platforms, along with the sequel to ''Half-Life'' which used it exclusively -- and thus was born UsefulNotes/{{Steam}}, which went on to become the biggest digital distribution platform for Windows and a license to print money for Valve. And, because Valve is such a small company, they have developed something of a reputation for having literally more money than they know what to do with. A fair bit of it seems to go into flying fans out to visit their headquarters. [[http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/94640-L4D-Modder-Raising-Funds-to-Fly-Gabe-Newell-to-Australia Just don't get presumptuous.]]

Valve's in-house game engine (Source, the successor to their ''VideoGame/{{Quake}}''-based [=GoldSrc=] engine) is publicly available for other commercial developers to license, but for those interested in creating free [[GameMod mods]], the level editor and several other modding tools are available for free with the purchase of any game. (And most of the other handy tools have been developed by third parties as freeware.) To this end, the engine has become the basis for a legendary number of mods, including several that function as standalone games in their own right.

In fact, the majority of Valve's own oeuvre -- ''Counter-Strike'', ''Day of Defeat'', ''Team Fortress'', ''Dota 2'', and the free ''Alien Swarm'' -- were originally the product of mod teams (though only the first two were mods of their own engine originally), who were then recruited to work for Valve and whose games were re-released as commercial titles. Of its flagship titles, only the ''Half-Life'' series was actually created by Valve directly; ''Portal'' was adapted from a concept game made by a bunch of college students, and ''Left 4 Dead'' was started by another company that Valve later bought out.

In March 2010, they announced that they would be porting Steam, the Source Engine, and their entire back catalog to UsefulNotes/MacOS X. In June 2010, at E3, Gabe Newell made a surprise announcement that ''Portal 2'' and Steam would be coming to the UsefulNotes/PlayStation3 to thunderous applause. They later gained the love of 99% of Linux users when they released the public beta of a Linux port in late December 2012, with an official release appearing in February 2013. At present, this is only officially supported on Debian-based distros, but other users have had some success at running it on Fedora- and Arch-based systems. This is later amplified in 2018 when they announced the work of "Proton", their interpretation of Play On Linux (which used the Wine codebase) that theoretically will allow all Steam games to run on Linux, with (as of currently) mixed results.

They are [[Memes/ValveCorporation a frequent source]] [[FountainOfMemes of memes]]. They also have fairly active blogs for their big games.

** ''VideoGame/Portal2'': [=GlaDOs=] frequently makes fun of Wheatley for being an idiot. There are however hints throughout the second game, especially in the second half, that Wheatley isn't as dumb as he comes across. Then again, sometimes he is. He zig-zags.

* EverythingsBetterWithPlushies: [[VideoGame/Left4Dead The Tank, Hunter, and Boomer!]]
** [[VideoGame/TeamFortress2 Pocket Medics, Archimedes, Engineer Bears, Voodoo Spies, and Stickybombs!]]
** [[VideoGame/{{Portal}} Weighted Companion Cubes]], [[VideoGame/Portal2 Turrets, and Wheatley!]]
** [[VideoGame/HalfLife Headcrabs and Santa Vortigaunts!]]
** And coming soon, [[http://necaonline.com/35973/blog/news-and-announcements/coming-soon-team-fortress-2-scout-pyro-plush/ Scout and Pyro!]]