[angular graphics]

They updated their site: http://valvesoftware.com/index.html

http://valvesoftware.com/company/

Steam is our direct pipeline to customers. It began as a little sleeper project—a handy tool to update Counter-Strike—and morphed pretty quickly into the world's largest online gaming platform. Steam guarantees instant access to more than 1,800 game titles and connects its 35 million active users to each other—and to us. Through Steam, fans can easily buy, play, share, modify, and build communities around Valve products as well as titles from other independent game studios. Steam is available in 237 countries and 21 different languages.

(Note: almost a year ago, they claimed they had 30 million active users: http://store.steampowered.com/news/4502/ )

And then there's this:

In addition to Steam, there is Source, our own state-of-the-art game engine. Its sophisticated character animation, advanced AI, real-world physics, shader-based rendering, and super extensibility have helped us create some of the most popular and good-looking games on the market for computer and consoles. We don’t like to brag, but Source is considered the most flexible, comprehensive, and powerful game development environment out there. And it’s about to get even better.

inb4 Source 2, you know it's not going to happen.

And this: http://valvesoftware.com/company/people.html

We’ve been boss-free since 1996. Imagine working with super smart, super talented colleagues in a free-wheeling, innovative environment—no bosses, no middle management, no bureaucracy. Just highly motivated peers coming together to make cool stuff. It’s amazing what creative people can come up with when there’s nobody there telling them what to do.

The updated list of employees doesn't seem to include Eul, Icefrog, Doug Church or Michael Abrash.

New job openings: http://valvesoftware.com/jobs/job_postings.html

They are looking for a hell of a lot people:

3D Character Artist Animator Anti-Cheat Engineer Artist Bilingual Support Representative Economist Film Editor Food Services Graphic Designer Level Designer Motion Designer Multimedia Graphics Artist Psychologist Software Engineer Software Engineer—Payment Systems Sound Designer Steam Account Manager Steam Data Mining Engineer Steam Database Engineer Statistician Steam Technical Account Manager User Experience Designer Web Engineer—Back End Web Engineer—Front End Writer

We’re always growing. Most people think of Valve as a company that makes video games— and we are. But we also built the software that powers those games and the platform that lets millions of fans play, share, modify, and build communities around more than 1,800 titles. That makes us a full-spectrum entertainment studio. As such, our search for talent has taken us beyond the game industry and into the fields of architecture, economics, psychology, and industrial design. We’re not just growing. We’re diversifying. Where to next? You tell us. We’re after talented people with original ideas and the passion to realize them.

[TUSR]

Psychologist

Interesting...

Source 2 before Episode 3 confirmed.

I wish they were looking for a Mechanical Engineer. Ill give them diversity.

[Flying_Phoenix]

Valve deserves all of their success and more.

Its crazy how fast Steam has grown over the past few months. A 1/6th gain.

[xelios]

Economist reminded me of CCP - Eve Online since they employ one. Psychologist is interesting.

Are there any other video game companies in the world with this type of positions. Seriously, they are running a freaking R&D lab for video games.

See above!

[Crunched]

All good news. Valve is the best company in the industry.

[Lasthope106]

Economist Statistician

Are there any other video game companies in the world with this type of positions. Seriously, they are running a freaking R&D lab for video games.

[Hasphat'sAnts]

Some of these positions have been posted for a while now.

[Htown]

in b4 water_wendi

[Togglesworlh]

They've had a psychologist for ages.

I wish they were looking for a Mechanical Engineer. Ill give them diversity.

If you can prove you're worth it, they'll take you. That's pretty much their MO.

[TUSR]

If you can prove you're worth it, they'll take you. That's pretty much their MO.

"I design piping/skids for gas dehydration units, surely I can fit in somewhere. I also volunteer at search and rescue."

[Lactose_Intolerant]

Steam Data Mining Engineer

[SneakyStephan]

Source is still my favorite engine.

The IQ you get in source games is so good, and mostly good old fashioned baked shadows into textures + HDR lighting is extremely pleasing to the eye.
It running like greased lightning helps too.

I'm curious what they 'll add this time.

[Togglesworlh]

"I design piping/skids for gas dehydration units, surely I can fit in somewhere. I also volunteer at search and rescue."

Hah! I mean, I'm really not even joking, though. I think they'll hire anyone that proves they are worth it.

[Archie]

I bet they hit 50+ million easily when youknowwhat comes out (assuming it is F2P).

[SalsaShark]

go team

[Derrick01]

Are there any other video game companies in the world with this type of positions. Seriously, they are running a freaking R&D lab for video games.

I do remember a recent interview with Gabe where he was talking about a possible trade in system on Steam and how hard it was to pull off and how they needed to consult financial experts. Who knows? Maybe they want them for this :)

They deserve every ounce of their success. I noticed they've been breaking over the 4 million concurrent user mark recently too.

[Wallach]

I do remember a recent interview with Gabe where he was talking about a possible trade in system on Steam and how hard it was to pull off and how they needed to consult financial experts. Who knows? Maybe they want them for this :) They deserve every ounce of their success. I noticed they've been breaking over the 4 million concurrent user mark recently too.

I think part of that idea manifested itself in the Steam Trading system. If they are able to expand on the number of games that access it, it'll be the most important development in the PC gaming space in many, many years.

[speedpop]

TF2 made me love Source. Dota 2 makes me believe in Source.

[angular graphics]

I do remember a recent interview with Gabe where he was talking about a possible trade in system on Steam and how hard it was to pull off and how they needed to consult financial experts. Who knows? Maybe they want them for this :) They deserve every ounce of their success. I noticed they've been breaking over the 4 million concurrent user mark recently too.

Yes here is what Gabe said:

Eurogamer: Will it eventually lead to players being able to trade in games on Steam? Gabe Newell: We need to hire an economist, because we keep bumping up into these issues. You're starting to look at weird issues like currency and inflation and productivity and asset values and liquidity of asset categories. We just wish we were smarter about this stuff. We're reading frantically. We're brushing up, and all we're doing is convincing ourselves that we're more stupid. Half the time people are saying, oh, well, illiquid assets inherently have a penalty, so this argues for trade-ability, that we're essentially becoming a Russian currency model in the 1970s. Everybody races off to try to read papers on the implications of that. We think we want to move in the direction where everything is an item of exchange. We just aren't totally sure how to do that right. We're sure there are economists out there who understand this really well. We feel like we're this third-world developing country. We've discovered rocks! And we've discovered sticks! And there's this other thing out there and we should move our economy in that direction. There must be somebody at the World Bank who can tell us what we ought to be doing. We just don't know what that is yet.

[reptilescorpio]

The updated list of employees doesn't seem to include Eul, Icefrog, Doug Church or Michael Abrash

They probably don't consider them employees. More like tenured professors who get to do whatever the hell they like and occasionally pop in with something mind blowing to give Valve a good push in the right directions.

[Togglesworlh]

I think part of that idea manifested itself in the Steam Trading system. If they are able to expand on the number of games that access it, it'll be the most important development in the PC gaming space in many, many years.

It's certainly an interesting turn of events, although I'm still not entirely sure how it works. Can I literally offer someone a hat in TF2 if they'll only buy me a game?

[Sciz]

They need another writer besides Chet and Erik?

[classicdms]

I'm curious what they 'll add this time.

A more powerful renderer would be my bet.

It's certainly an interesting turn of events, although I'm still not entirely sure how it works. Can I literally offer someone a hat in TF2 if they'll only buy me a game?

Yeah, pretty much. But if more games embrace this kind of thing then you could trade a skin for Batman Arkham City for a TF2 hat and so on.

[wilflare]

It's certainly an interesting turn of events, although I'm still not entirely sure how it works. Can I literally offer someone a hat in TF2 if they'll only buy me a game?

feast your eyes upon the Hat Economy
http://forums.steampowered.com/forum...lay.php?f=1189

[Mama Robotnik]

All good news. Valve is the best company in the industry.

Yes.

I used to award that crown to Nintendo, but Valve are taking me to gaming places I didn't even know that I wanted to go to. Digital distribution, cheapest prices in the industry, cloud saves, free games, and a dozen more qualities raising them them above the competition.

They're leading the industry now, I think. And they seem like really good people too.

[Suikoguy]

Economist... sure that's not a new Final Fantasy Tactics job?

[Madrugador]

Food Services

This made me lol.

Can't wait to see what they have in mind.

[snoopeasystreet]

What's Hammer like these days? Still a load of bollox to use?

[bangai-o]

why isnt alot of devs using Source?

[Wallach]

It's certainly an interesting turn of events, although I'm still not entirely sure how it works. Can I literally offer someone a hat in TF2 if they'll only buy me a game?

Exactly that. Right now I'm downloading Dead Island, which I got in return for items from TF2. I made that exchange through a simple Steam chat window.

It's all about the core idea of trading in a used game. That's a user wanting to get value back out of his purchase that he can do something with. Steam Trading is a very similar concept; people getting value back out of their games and being able to do something with it. But in Steam Trading's case, you not only get to keep your game, you may want to exchange that value for another game - which someone would have to buy for you from Steam.

It's like a trade-in system that is the friend of all developers and publishers, rather than the enemy. And it benefits the consumer much more than trading in the game entirely. It's quite important and it is quite amazing how they've been able to launch this feature so quietly. If they continue to build on it with more and more games being folded into this service, all of their competitors will soon turn around and realize they no longer have the means of competing with them in the PC gaming space at all.

[angular graphics]

Also worth noting Michael Booth, CEO of Turtle Rock, is still listed as a Valve employee.

[wilflare]

i hope they hire "Historian" :/

[classicdms]

What's Hammer like these days? Still a load of bollox to use?

Hammer is a bitch. It's what stopped me from trying to make L4D maps. If they manage to make that more accessible along with a new engine, that would be amazing.

[Suikoguy]

feast your eyes upon the Hat Economy http://forums.steampowered.com/forum...lay.php?f=1189

[speedpop]

Yes here is what Gabe said: Eurogamer: Will it eventually lead to players being able to trade in games on Steam? Gabe Newell: We need to hire an economist, because we keep bumping up into these issues. You're starting to look at weird issues like currency and inflation and productivity and asset values and liquidity of asset categories. We just wish we were smarter about this stuff. We're reading frantically. We're brushing up, and all we're doing is convincing ourselves that we're more stupid. Half the time people are saying, oh, well, illiquid assets inherently have a penalty, so this argues for trade-ability, that we're essentially becoming a Russian currency model in the 1970s. Everybody races off to try to read papers on the implications of that. We think we want to move in the direction where everything is an item of exchange. We just aren't totally sure how to do that right. We're sure there are economists out there who understand this really well. We feel like we're this third-world developing country. We've discovered rocks! And we've discovered sticks! And there's this other thing out there and we should move our economy in that direction. There must be somebody at the World Bank who can tell us what we ought to be doing. We just don't know what that is yet.

Sounds like they need to hire someone who not only understands the basics and advanced movements of finances and economics, but also specifically the drastic dynamic effects that is so prevalent in the foreign exchange. Maybe I should hassle my better half to apply for a tour.

[Togglesworlh]

Exactly that. Right now I'm downloading Dead Island, which I got in return for items from TF2. I made that exchange through a simple Steam chat window. It's all about the core idea of trading in a used game. That's a user wanting to get value back out of his purchase that he can do something with. Steam Trading is a very similar concept; people getting value back out of their games and being able to do something with it. But in Steam Trading's case, you not only get to keep your game, you may want to exchange that value for another game - which someone would have to buy for you from Steam. It's like a trade-in system that is the friend of all developers and publishers, rather than the enemy. And it benefits the consumer much more than trading in the game entirely. It's quite important and it is quite amazing how they've been able to launch this feature so quietly. If they continue to build on it with more and more games being folded into this service, all of their competitors will soon turn around and realize they no longer have the means of competing with them in the PC gaming space at all.

It is nuts. Gabe Newell and the rest of Valve are nuts. We are all nuts.

How does this kind of thing even exist?

"Hey, I played this game and got a reward. Now you can have it if you're willing to give me a game!"

NUTS.

I mean, I know that sort of thing has been going on for ages, with people buying gold in WoW, and all kinds of stuff even before that... NUTS ANYWAY.

why isnt alot of devs using Source?

As I understand it, they don't actually actively market their engine for developers like Epic does with Unreal Engine. Some still end up using it (see 5th Cell's newest game), but not many.

Mod developers, though, love it.

[angular graphics]

why isnt alot of devs using Source?

http://www.develop-online.net/featur...studio-culture

I am really surprised you don’t aggressively pursue the engine licensing business. Are you surprised by how few studios use your engine?

EJ: We have constraints with how much time we can spend on any given problem. We made the trade-off to build more products as opposed to spend more time on licensing. We’ve crossed that path many times over, we heavily license the Steamworks business. But our own tech we optimise for our own products. Don’t get me wrong, people still licence our engine, and we have filled a PS3-sized hole in that segment of our business.

That’s why I was suspicious, knowing that you’ve optimised for PS3 and you have a lot of people working on Source.

EJ: I know the Epic guys really well, and I know Mark Rein spends a whole lot of time going out there and getting people to use the great tech that those guys have. It’s just not something we’ve focused on a whole lot. RW: I think, especially for other developers, there’s a lot of confusion about Valve from the outside. That always stems from the assumption that we work in the same way other companies work. People will imagine Gabe, or someone else senior, telling everyone else what we’re going to do and how we’re going to do it. Really, it just doesn’t work like that. There’s a bunch of people around the company who are, individually or in groups, discussing what’s the most valuable thing they can contribute. We know how confusing that must sound. EJ: Put it this way, we didn’t have a PS3 version of our engine because quite simply there weren’t calls from within the company from people who were interested in doing a PS3 game. No one decided to do anything about it, and the way developers can vote to do something about it is to simply start working on it, which they’re able to do. That’s why Portal 2 is coming to the PS3, because we had about four engineers – some of which have worked here for a few years – who were annoyed that we hadn’t worked on that platform, and they said they’re willing to be the first to cross over to the PS3. And it didn’t matter what other people thought of that. If they spent their time doing the work for it, and they made their case to their peers, then they can. RW: Yeah if they make a case for it, even if you don’t agree with their point, if you think it’s rational and you see they’re working hard on it then you don’t get in the way of that. That’s the ideology the company is founded on. If you understand, then, how we work – then many of the things we chose not to do become clearer. If there isn’t a group forming together, if there isn’t enough argument to go in one direction, then quite organically no one will go down that path. So, going back to why we don’t license our engine so aggressively, if someone here really wanted to, we would. EJ: Absolutely. If someone wanted to do the work then they’re free to. As long as it’s best for our customers. Y’know, we essentially have no turnover here. No one really leaves the company. There’s been less than ten, ever. Most people have worked here a really long time, and most people trust the people they’re working around. I mean, we had people here who once-upon-a-time made it clear they thought Steam was a bad idea. Obviously it wasn’t. But the people who aired those views haven’t been demoralised or punished because of that. We actually think it’s really useful to have people taking a second look at our every step. When a group of engineers want to go off and get Portal 2 shipped for PS3, anybody who disagreed would still know we’d learn a lot from that failure. Failure is not of zero value, we don’t want to make a habit of it obviously, but failing can teach us a lot.

[DarkChild]

why isnt alot of devs using Source?

Because its complicated.

[The Technomancer]

I've always gotten the impression that Source is like Nintendo hardware: they upgrade when what they want to do can't be done on the previous system.

[Mama Robotnik]

http://i.imgur.com/nF16J.jpg

Jesus Christ this made me laugh really loudly at 3am!

[Inanna]

Valve is definitely THE best and my favourite company in the gaming industry.

[xelios]

http://i.imgur.com/nF16J.jpg[/img]

Haha, the face and hat are so perfect.

[reptilescorpio]

There’s a bunch of people around the company who are, individually or in groups, discussing what’s the most valuable thing they can contribute. We know how confusing that must sound. EJ: Put it this way, we didn’t have a PS3 version of our engine because quite simply there weren’t calls from within the company from people who were interested in doing a PS3 game. No one decided to do anything about it, and the way developers can vote to do something about it is to simply start working on it, which they’re able to do. That’s why Portal 2 is coming to the PS3, because we had about four engineers – some of which have worked here for a few years – who were annoyed that we hadn’t worked on that platform, and they said they’re willing to be the first to cross over to the PS3.

Still blows my mind that they operate like this. Rather than being told what HAS to be done in order to meet a publishers deadline they go out of their way to use their abilities/potential to the highest effective amount. A brilliant way to stay ahead of the curve and obviously one that requires plenty of financial backing in order to survive lulls in the revenue stream. You would think more developers would have gotten to that point by now.
It's also cool that a bunch of employees can disagree with the founder of their company and use company time and money in order show that they can do what he thought wasn't worth the effort.

[Mama Robotnik]

Haha, the face and hat are so perfect.

To me the graph is the icing on the cake, measuring an axis of HATS and HATS. Brilliant JPG.

[Wallach]

It is nuts. Gabe Newell and the rest of Valve are nuts. We are all nuts. How does this kind of thing even exist? "Hey, I played this game and got a reward. Now you can have it if you're willing to give me a game!" NUTS. I mean, I know that sort of thing has been going on for ages, with people buying gold in WoW, and all kinds of stuff even before that... NUTS ANYWAY.

It's pretty interesting and I've been meaning to make a thread for discussing the nature of it, but I've been pretty busy lately and haven't sat down to really do that.

It's actually not nuts at all; that kind of abstract value is already the driving force behind so much of gaming in general. The fact that these guys have a platform with the opportunity to open that value back to the user rather than lock it to the game itself is really awesome. I just hope developers realize what kind of value that system has. It's definitely one of the most important ideas I've seen in the PC gaming space in at least a decade.

[ntropy]

george will is applying as we speak.

[Emitan]

Food services? I WILL WORK IN YOUR KITCHENS GABE, JUST HIRE ME. YOU LIKE PUMPKIN PIE? I MAKE THE BEST PUMPKIN PIES.

[speedpop]

Still blows my mind that they operate like this. Rather than being told what HAS to be done in order to meet a publishers deadline they go out of their way to use their abilities/potential to the highest effective amount. A brilliant way to stay ahead of the curve and obviously one that requires plenty of financial backing in order to survive lulls in the revenue stream. You would think more developers would have gotten to that point by now. It's also cool that a bunch of employees can disagree with the founder of their company and use company time and money in order show that they can do what he thought wasn't worth the effort.

The whole setup at Valve reminds me of a gaming industry standard of the Library of Alexandria, or the House of Wisdom in Baghdad, and to a lesser extent the current crop of TED Talks/Big Think. It is where the best of the best come to spread their ideas and carry on the pursuit of their enjoyment without worry for financies.

[jim-jam bongs]

Valve if you need someone to help you start a Sydney office I'm available and work for hats.

[xelios]

The whole setup at Valve reminds me of a gaming industry standard of the Library of Alexandria

Can we get our games out before it burns?