Valve overview
Valve is best known for Steam, the dominant storefront for PC games, but it began as a game studio and still makes some of the most played games on its platform. Its franchises include Half-Life, Portal, Team Fortress, Left 4 Dead, Counter-Strike and Dota, and over the past decade it has also become a hardware maker, selling the Steam Deck handheld and, since 2026, a new Steam Machine living-room PC, all running its Linux-based SteamOS.
Gabe Newell and Mike Harrington, both long-time Microsoft employees, founded Valve in Kirkland, Washington, on August 24, 1996, Newell’s wedding day. Their first game, Half-Life (1998), was a critical and commercial success, and Valve acquired the creators of popular mods such as Team Fortress and Counter-Strike and turned their work into Valve games. Harrington sold his stake to Newell and left in 2000. Valve moved to Bellevue in 2003, the year it launched Steam as a way to update its own games.
Steam opened to other publishers in 2005, and its success reshaped the company. With steady store revenue, Valve released fewer games in the 2010s and spent more effort on hardware and virtual reality, from the poorly selling Steam Machines of 2015 to the Valve Index headset in 2019 and Half-Life: Alyx in 2020. The Steam Deck, released in February 2022, became Valve’s first clear hardware success, helped by Proton, a compatibility layer that lets most Windows games run on Linux. Valve’s current multiplayer games include Counter-Strike 2, which replaced Counter-Strike: Global Offensive in 2023, and Dota 2.
Valve is known for a flat organizational structure in which employees choose their own projects, and it does not publish financial results; Forbes Australia estimated its 2023 revenue at about $5 billion. In November 2025 the company announced a second-generation Steam Controller, a new Steam Machine and the Steam Frame VR headset. Memory chip shortages delayed all three: the controller arrived in May 2026, the Steam Machine in June, and the Steam Frame was scheduled for release on September 18, 2026. Valve also faces antitrust claims over Steam’s commission in the United States, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, and has defended its fees as in line with industry standards.
Software by Valve
3 products profiled, from Steam (2003) to Counter-Strike 2 (2023).
- SteamValve’s PC gaming store, launcher and community platform Games & Game Engines 2003 Free
- Counter-Strike 2Valve’s free-to-play tactical team shooter and esports mainstay Games & Game Engines 2023 Free-to-play
- Dota 2Valve’s free-to-play MOBA and the game behind The International Games & Game Engines 2013 Free-to-play
Valve history and milestones
- 1996
Gabe Newell and Mike Harrington found Valve in Kirkland, Washington, on August 24.
- 1998
Valve releases Half-Life, its first game, to critical and commercial success.
- 2000
Mike Harrington sells his stake to Gabe Newell and leaves the company.
- 2003
Valve moves to Bellevue, Washington, and launches Steam in September.
- 2004
Half-Life 2 is released and requires Steam to play.
- 2013
Dota 2 launches in July after a public beta that began in 2011.
- 2018
Valve introduces tiered Steam revenue sharing and the Proton compatibility layer for Linux.
- 2020
Half-Life: Alyx is released for PC virtual reality headsets.
- 2022
Valve ships the Steam Deck handheld gaming PC.
- 2023
Counter-Strike 2 replaces Counter-Strike: Global Offensive on Steam.
- 2025
Valve announces a new Steam Machine, Steam Controller and Steam Frame VR headset.
- 2026
The Steam Controller and Steam Machine go on sale after delays caused by memory shortages.
Who founded Valve?
Gabe Newell
Co-founder and president
Gabe Newell left Harvard University in the early 1980s to join Microsoft, where he spent 13 years and worked on the first three releases of Windows and a Windows 95 port of Doom. The success of id Software convinced him that small game studios could reach huge audiences, and in 1996 he left with Mike Harrington to found Valve, later leading the development of Steam.
Newell has run Valve alone since buying out Harrington in 2000 and is its majority owner. In recent years he has spent more time on outside ventures, including the neural interface company Starfish Neuroscience, the marine research group Inkfish and the yacht builder Oceanco, which he acquired in 2025.
Mike Harrington
Co-founder; left Valve in 2000
Mike Harrington worked as a programmer at the game developer Dynamix and as a designer on Windows NT at Microsoft before co-founding Valve with Gabe Newell in 1996, selling Microsoft shares to fund his half of the startup. He worked as a programmer on Half-Life and helped pay for its development.
After the game’s success, Harrington sold his stake in Valve to Newell in January 2000 and left the company. He went on to co-found the online photo editor Picnik, which Google acquired in 2010, and later served as chief technology officer of the nonprofit Committee for Children and of the company Amplion.
How Valve makes money
Most of Valve’s revenue comes from Steam. Valve keeps 30 percent of a game’s sales and in-game purchases on the store, falling to 25 percent after a game earns $10 million and 20 percent after $50 million, and developers pay a recoupable fee for each game they publish through Steam Direct. Valve also collects a transaction fee on items traded on the Steam Community Market, where players buy and sell cosmetic items such as Counter-Strike weapon skins.
Valve’s own games are mostly free to play and earn money from optional purchases: Counter-Strike 2 sells a Prime Status upgrade, weapon cases and an Armory pass, while Dota 2 sells cosmetic items and a Dota Plus subscription. Hardware adds another income stream, with the Steam Deck, Steam Machine, controllers and VR headsets sold directly through Steam. Valve does not disclose its finances, but Forbes Australia estimated its 2023 revenue at about $5 billion with a profit margin of roughly 40 percent.
Who owns and runs Valve?
Gabe Newell co-founded Valve and has led it on his own since 2000, when he bought out Mike Harrington; his formal title is president, and the company does not list a CEO. Valve is privately held. Forbes estimated in 2024 that Newell owned about 50.1 percent of the company, with the rest held by employees. Below its executive leadership Valve uses a flat structure without traditional managers, and Newell has reportedly become less involved in day-to-day work while pursuing outside ventures.
- Gabe NewellCo-founder, president and majority owner
- Mike HarringtonCo-founder; left Valve in 2000
Valve: frequently asked questions
Who founded Valve?
Valve was founded on August 24, 1996, by Gabe Newell and Mike Harrington, two former Microsoft employees who used their own money to start the company in Kirkland, Washington. Their first game, Half-Life, came out in 1998. Harrington sold his stake to Newell and left Valve in 2000.
Who owns Valve?
Valve is a privately held company. Co-founder Gabe Newell is its majority owner: Forbes estimated in 2024 that he held about 50.1 percent, with the rest owned by Valve employees. The company has never gone public and does not publish its financial results.
Who is the CEO of Valve?
Valve does not formally list a CEO. Co-founder Gabe Newell, whose title is president, is the company’s top executive and majority owner, and he has led Valve on his own since co-founder Mike Harrington left in 2000. Below the executive level, Valve uses a flat structure in which employees choose their own projects.
Where is Valve headquartered?
Valve is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington, a city east of Seattle. The company was founded in nearby Kirkland in 1996, a few miles from the Microsoft campus in Redmond where its founders had worked, and it moved to Bellevue in 2003.
What software does Valve make?
Valve makes Steam, the PC game store and platform, along with SteamOS and the Proton compatibility layer. Its games include Half-Life, Portal, Team Fortress 2, Left 4 Dead, Counter-Strike 2 and Dota 2, and it develops the Source 2 engine and hardware such as the Steam Deck, Steam Machine and Steam Frame.
Is Valve facing any lawsuits?
Yes. Valve faces antitrust claims over Steam’s commission and pricing rules, including a US class action led by developer Wolfire Games that a federal judge certified in November 2024, a UK consumer claim allowed to proceed in January 2026 and a Dutch consumer claim filed in June 2026. Valve has defended its 30 percent revenue share as an industry standard.
Sources
- About Valve valvesoftware.com
- Valve Corporation, Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org
- Gabe Newell, Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org
- Steam Machine, Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org
- Steam (service), Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org
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