Valve Corporation
Type	Video Game Developer and Publisher
Founded	Kirkland, Washington, USA (1996)
Headquarters	Bellevue, Washington, USA
Key people	Gabe Newell, co-founder and managing director
Industry	Software & Programming
Products	Half-Life series Counter-Strike series Day of Defeat series Team Fortress series Source engine Steam Valve Anti-Cheat
Revenue	▲$70 million USD (2005)
Employees	150[1]
Website	www.valvesoftware.com

Valve Corporation is an American video game development company based in Bellevue, Washington, USA that was founded in 1996, and made famous by its first product, Half-Life, which was released in November 1998. Kirkland is an affluent city in King County, Washington, United States. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Year 1996 ( MCMXCVI) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar) Bellevue ( "BELL-view") is a rapidly growing city in King County, Washington, U Gabe Newell (born November 3, 1962) is the co-founder and Managing director of Game development company Valve Corporation. Managing director is the term used for the Chief executive of many limited companies in the United Kingdom, Commonwealth and some other English For other uses of this term see Industry (disambiguation An industry (from Latin industrius, "diligent industrious" In Marketing, a product is anything that can be offered to a Market that might satisfy a want or need Half-Life is a Science fiction First-person shooter Computer game series which consists of two full games two episodic games and three third-party The Source engine is a 3D game engine developed by Valve Corporation. Steam is a Digital distribution, Digital rights management, Multiplayer Valve Anti-Cheat, abbreviated to VAC, is a proprietary Anti-cheat solution developed and maintained by Valve Corporation as a component of the Steam In business revenue or revenues is Income that a company receives from its normal business activities usually from the sale of goods and services The United States dollar ( sign: $; code: USD) is the unit of Currency of the United States; it has also been Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Employment is a Contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. A website (alternatively web site or Web site, a back-construction from the Proper noun World Wide Web) is a collection of Web pages The United States of America —commonly referred to as the A video game developer is a software developer (a business or an individual that creates Video games A developer may specialize in a certain video Bellevue ( "BELL-view") is a rapidly growing city in King County, Washington, U Year 1996 ( MCMXCVI) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar) Half-Life is a Science fiction First-person shooter computer game developed by Valve Software and the company's debut product Year 1998 ( MCMXCVIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar)

Valve was originally an L.L.C., based in Kirkland, Washington. A limited liability company (abbreviated LLC or LLC) in the law of the vast majority of the United States is a legal form of business Company Kirkland is an affluent city in King County, Washington, United States. After the company became a corporation in 2003 it moved away from its original location to Bellevue, Washington. Bellevue ( "BELL-view") is a rapidly growing city in King County, Washington, U The city of Bellevue, Washington also served as the homebase for their original publisher Sierra On-Line, Inc. Sierra Entertainment Inc is a Worldwide American Video game developer and publisher founded in 1979 by Ken and Roberta

Half-Life's success was followed by developing mods, spin-offs, and sequels including Half-Life 2. Mod or modification is a term generally applied to Computer games especially First-person shooters RPGs and Real-time strategy games A spin-off (or spinoff) is a new Organization or Entity formed by a split from a larger one such as a Television series based on a pre-existing A sequel is a work in Literature, Film, or other media that portrays events following those of a previous work Half-Life 2 is a Science fiction First-person shooter computer game and the sequel to the highly acclaimed Half-Life Only two fully produced games, Half-Life and Half Life 2, have been released by Valve, along with a number of episodic, multiplayer, expansion, and campaign titles including Portal, Team Fortress Classic, Team Fortress 2, Counter-Strike and Day of Defeat. Half-Life is a Science fiction First-person shooter computer game developed by Valve Software and the company's debut product Half-Life 2 is a Science fiction First-person shooter computer game and the sequel to the highly acclaimed Half-Life Portal is a Single-player first-person action / puzzle Video game developed by Valve Corporation. Team Fortress Classic, also known as Team Fortress 15, The development of Team Fortress Classic was led by John Cook and Robin Walker Counter-Strike (commonly abbreviated to CS) is a tactical First-person shooter Video game which originated from a Day of Defeat is a team-based Multiplayer World War II First-person shooter computer game of the European Theatre of World

On January 10, 2008, Valve Corporation announced that they had acquired Turtle Rock Studios, adding the Californian technology company to its portfolio. Turtle Rock Studios was a Video game developer founded in March 2002 by Michael Booth later acquired by Valve Corporation. ^[2]

Half-Life

Main article: Half-Life

Long-time Microsoft employees Gabe Newell and Mike Harrington founded Valve on August 24th, 1996. Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational Computer technology Corporation, which rose to dominate the Home computer Gabe Newell (born November 3, 1962) is the co-founder and Managing director of Game development company Valve Corporation. Mike Harrington was the co-founder of the Computer game development company Valve Software and a lead programmer of the game Half-Life Events 49 BC - Julius Caesar 's General Gaius Scribonius Curio is defeated in the Second Battle of the Bagradas River Year 1996 ( MCMXCVI) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar) ^[3][4] After securing a license to the Quake engine (through the help of friend Michael Abrash of id Software) in late 1996, they commenced working on Half-Life. Quake is a First-person shooter Computer game that was released by Id Software on June 22, 1996. Michael Abrash is a highly regarded Technical writer, and one of the top optimization and 80x86 id Software (ɪd officially is an American computer game developer based in Mesquite, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. Half-Life is a Science fiction First-person shooter computer game developed by Valve Software and the company's debut product Originally planned for release in late 1997, Half-Life launched on November 19, 1998. Year 1997 ( MCMXCVII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1997 Gregorian calendar Events 1095 - The Council of Clermont, called by Pope Urban II to discuss sending the First Crusade to the Holy Land Year 1998 ( MCMXCVIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar) Valve acquired TF Software PTY Ltd. in May 1998, the makers of the Team Fortress mod for Quake with the intent to create a standalone Team Fortress 2 game. Team Fortress (sometimes abbreviated as QTF) is a team and class based online Multiplayer Computer game modification based on Mod or modification is a term generally applied to Computer games especially First-person shooters RPGs and Real-time strategy games Quake is a First-person shooter Computer game that was released by Id Software on June 22, 1996. The Team Fortress Classic mod, essentially a port of the original Team Fortress mod for Quake, was released for Half-Life in 1999. Team Fortress Classic, also known as Team Fortress 15, The development of Team Fortress Classic was led by John Cook and Robin Walker Mod or modification is a term generally applied to Computer games especially First-person shooters RPGs and Real-time strategy games Year 1999 ( MCMXCIX) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1999 Gregorian calendar) Team Fortress 2 was released October 10, 2007, bundled with Half-Life 2: Episode Two along with Portal. Events 680 - Battle of Karbala: Shia Imam Husayn bin Ali, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, is decapitated Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Half-Life 2 Episode Two is the second installment in Valve Corporation 's series of episodes for the First person shooter Computer game Portal is a Single-player first-person action / puzzle Video game developed by Valve Corporation.

Valve continued work on Half-Life, releasing several more extensions to the game and collaborated with other developers to port it to other platforms. See also Software portability In Computer science, porting is the process of adapting software so that an executable program can be created They also took on-board the development of the highly popular Counter-Strike and Day of Defeat Half-Life mods. Counter-Strike (commonly abbreviated to CS) is a tactical First-person shooter Video game which originated from a Day of Defeat is a team-based Multiplayer World War II First-person shooter computer game of the European Theatre of World

Steam

Main article: Steam (content delivery)

Gabe Newell (foreground) and Doug Lombardi (background), 2007

Valve announced its Steam content delivery system in 2002. Steam is a Digital distribution, Digital rights management, Multiplayer Steam is a Digital distribution, Digital rights management, Multiplayer See also 2002 (disambiguation Year 2002 ( MMII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. At the time, it looked to be a method of streamlining the patch process common in online computer games. A personal computer Game (also known as a computer game or simply PC game) is a Video game played on a Personal computer, rather Steam was later revealed as a replacement for much of the framework of WON and Half-Life multiplayer and also as a distribution system for entire games.

Between 2002 and 2005, Valve was involved in a complex legal showdown with its publisher, Vivendi Universal (under Vivendi's brand Sierra Entertainment). See also 2002 (disambiguation Year 2002 ( MMII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. VIVENDI is a software package for care management and staff organisation published by the German software company CONNEXT and introduced in 1995 Sierra Entertainment Inc is a Worldwide American Video game developer and publisher founded in 1979 by Ken and Roberta It officially began on August 14, 2002 when Valve sued Sierra for copyright infringement, alleging that the publisher illegally distributed copies of their games to Internet cafes. Events 1183 - Taira no Munemori and the Taira clan take the young Emperor Antoku and the three sacred treasures See also 2002 (disambiguation Year 2002 ( MMII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. 'Copyright infringement' (or copyright violation) is the unauthorized use of material that is covered by Copyright law in a manner that violates They later added claims of breach of contract, accusing their publisher of withholding royalties and delaying the release of Counter-Strike: Condition Zero until after the holiday season. Breach of contract is a Legal concept in which a Binding agreement or bargained-for exchange is not honored by one or more of the parties to the contract by non-performance Counter-Strike Condition Zero (abbreviated CS CZ or just CZ) is the newer version of the Multiplayer game, Counter-Strike

Vivendi fought back, saying that Gabe Newell and marketing director Doug Lombardi had misrepresented Valve's position in meetings with the publisher. Vivendi later countersued, claiming that Valve's Steam content distribution system attempted to circumvent their publishing agreement. VUG sought intellectual property rights to Half-Life and a ruling preventing Valve from using Steam to distribute Half-Life 2. Intellectual property ( IP) is a legal field that refers to creations of the mind such as musical literary and artistic works inventions and symbols names

On November 29, 2004, Judge Thomas S. Events 1777 - San Jose California, is founded as el Pueblo de San José de Guadalupe "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " Zilly of U. S. Federal District Court in Seattle, WA ruled in favor of Valve Corporation. Specifically, the ruling stated that Vivendi Universal and its affiliates (including Sierra) were not authorized to distribute Valve games, either directly or indirectly, through cyber cafés to end users for pay-to-play activities pursuant to the parties' current publishing agreement. In addition, Judge Zilly ruled that Valve could recover copyright damages for infringements without regard to the publishing agreement's limitation of liability clause. ^[5] Valve posted on the Steam website that the two companies had come to a settlement in court on April 29, 2005. Events 1429 - Joan of Arc arrives to relieve the Siege of Orleans. Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. ^[6] Electronic Arts announced on July 18, 2005 that they would be teaming up with Valve in a multi-year deal to distribute their games, replacing Vivendi Universal from then onwards. Events 390 BC - Roman - Gaulish Wars Battle of the Allia - a Roman army is defeated by raiding Gauls, Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. ^[7]

As of May 1, 2008 over 300 PC games are available on Steam^[8], and there are approximately 15 million users. Events 305 - Diocletian and Maximian retire from the office of Roman Emperor. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common ^[9]

See also

• Steam
• Valve Anti-Cheat
• List of Half-Life mods
• List of Half-Life 2 mods
• PowerPlay (technology)
• Source engine
• List of games that use the Source engine

References

External links

• Official Homepage of Valve Corporation
• Official Steam Site
• Valve Corporation History