Valve Corporation
Encyclopedia
Valve Corporation is an American
video game development
and digital distribution company based in Bellevue, Washington
, United States. It was founded in 1996 by former Microsoft employees Gabe Newell
and Mike Harrington
, and made famous by its highly successful and critically acclaimed first product, Half-Life, released in November 1998. It is also well known for its social-distribution network Steam, and for developing the Source engine, which has been used in every product since its introduction in 2004.
employees Gabe Newell
and Mike Harrington
on August 24, 1996 as an L.L.C.
based in Kirkland, Washington
. After incorporation in April 2003, it moved from its original location to Bellevue, Washington
, the same city in which their original publisher, Sierra On-Line
, Inc., was based.
After the success of Half-Life, the team worked on mods
, spin-off
s, and sequel
s, including Half-Life 2
. All current Valve games are built on its Source engine, which owes much of its success to mods and sequels. The company has developed six game series: Half-Life, Team Fortress
, Portal, Counter-Strike
, Left 4 Dead
and Day of Defeat
. Valve is noted for its support of its games' modding community: most prominently, Counter-Strike, Team Fortress, and Day of Defeat. Valve has branched out with this tradition to continue developing the Warcraft III-based mod Defense of the Ancients
with Dota 2
. Each of these games began as a third-party mod that Valve purchased and developed into a full game. They also distribute community mods on Steam.
Since Valve Corporation's debut, it has expanded both in scope and commercial value. On January 10, 2008, Valve Corporation announced the acquisition of Turtle Rock Studios
. On April 8, 2010, Valve won The Escapist Magazines March Mayhem tournament for the best developer of 2010, beating out Zynga
in the semi-final and Bioware
in the finale.
(through the help of friend Michael Abrash
of id Software
) in late 1996, Newell and Harrington began working on Half-Life. Originally planned for release in late 1997, Half-Life launched on November 19, 1998. Valve acquired TF Software PTY Ltd, the makers of the Team Fortress
mod
for Quake, in May 1998 with the intent to create a standalone Team Fortress
game. The Team Fortress Classic
mod
, essentially a port of the original Team Fortress mod for Quake, was released for Half-Life in 1999.
Gearbox contributed much after the release of Half-Life. Gearbox Software
is responsible for the Half-Life expansion packs, Half-Life: Opposing Force
and Half-Life: Blue Shift
, along with the home console versions of Half-Life for the Sega
Dreamcast and Sony
PlayStation 2
which included a third expansion pack called Half-Life: Decay
, that enabled two-player split-screen co-op
.
Valve announced its games platform Steam in 2002. At the time it looked merely to be a method of streamlining the patch
process common in online computer games, but was later revealed as a replacement for much of the framework of the World Opponent Network
service and also as a distribution/digital rights management
system for entire games.
Valve has shown support for some of their games. For example, Valve has offered considerable updates for Team Fortress 2
; including adding new maps, new game modes, additional weapons, new achievements, and additional game play mechanics, as well adding a store which sells in-game items
. All such updates are mandatory, and provided free of charge.
There are over 1,400 games available on Steam, and in October 2010 Valve announced that it had surpassed 30 million active user accounts.
). 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 cafe
s. 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.
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. Vivendi sought intellectual property
rights to Half-Life and a ruling preventing Valve from using Steam to distribute Half-Life 2.
On November 29, 2004, Judge Thomas S. Zilly of U.S. Federal District Court in Seattle, Washington
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. Valve posted on the Steam website that the two companies had come to a settlement in court on April 29, 2005. Electronic Arts
announced on July 18, 2005 they would be teaming up with Valve in a multi-year deal to distribute their games, replacing Vivendi Universal from then onwards. As a result of the trial, the arbitrator also awarded Valve $2,391,932.
, which acquired Sierra Entertainment
after a merger with its parent company, Vivendi Universal Games. Activision had allegedly refused to honor the Valve vs Vivendi arbitration agreement. Activision had only paid Valve $1,967,796 of the $2,391,932 award, refusing to pay the remaining $424,136 claiming it had overpaid that sum in the past years.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
video game development
Video game developer
A video game developer is a software developer that creates video games. A developer may specialize in a certain video game console, such as Nintendo's Wii, Microsoft's Xbox 360, Sony's PlayStation 3, or may develop for a variety of systems, including personal computers.Most developers also...
and digital distribution company based in Bellevue, Washington
Bellevue, Washington
Bellevue is a city in the Eastside region of King County, Washington, United States, across Lake Washington from Seattle. Long known as a suburb or satellite city of Seattle, it is now categorized as an edge city or a boomburb. The population was 122,363 at the 2010 census.Downtown Bellevue is...
, United States. It was founded in 1996 by former Microsoft employees Gabe Newell
Gabe Newell
Gabe Logan Newell is the co-founder and managing director of video game development and online distribution company Valve Corporation.-Work:...
and Mike Harrington
Mike Harrington
Mike Harrington is the co-founder of the computer game development company, Valve Software and a lead programmer of the game Half-Life.Previously a games developer at Dynamix and a developer on the Windows NT operating system at Microsoft, Harrington founded Valve in 1996 with Gabe Newell, another...
, and made famous by its highly successful and critically acclaimed first product, Half-Life, released in November 1998. It is also well known for its social-distribution network Steam, and for developing the Source engine, which has been used in every product since its introduction in 2004.
History
Valve was founded by long-time MicrosoftMicrosoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
employees Gabe Newell
Gabe Newell
Gabe Logan Newell is the co-founder and managing director of video game development and online distribution company Valve Corporation.-Work:...
and Mike Harrington
Mike Harrington
Mike Harrington is the co-founder of the computer game development company, Valve Software and a lead programmer of the game Half-Life.Previously a games developer at Dynamix and a developer on the Windows NT operating system at Microsoft, Harrington founded Valve in 1996 with Gabe Newell, another...
on August 24, 1996 as an L.L.C.
Limited liability company
A limited liability company is a flexible form of enterprise that blends elements of partnership and corporate structures. It is a legal form of company that provides limited liability to its owners in the vast majority of United States jurisdictions...
based in Kirkland, Washington
Kirkland, Washington
Kirkland is a city in King County, Washington, United States. It is a suburb of Seattle on the Eastside . The population was 48,787 at the 2010 census makes it the 9th largest city in King County and the 20th largest city in the state...
. After incorporation in April 2003, it moved from its original location to Bellevue, Washington
Bellevue, Washington
Bellevue is a city in the Eastside region of King County, Washington, United States, across Lake Washington from Seattle. Long known as a suburb or satellite city of Seattle, it is now categorized as an edge city or a boomburb. The population was 122,363 at the 2010 census.Downtown Bellevue is...
, the same city in which their original publisher, Sierra On-Line
Sierra Entertainment
Sierra Entertainment Inc. was an American video-game developer and publisher founded in 1979 as On-Line Systems by Ken and Roberta Williams...
, Inc., was based.
After the success of Half-Life, the team worked on mods
Mod (computer gaming)
Mod or modification is a term generally applied to personal computer games , especially first-person shooters, role-playing games and real-time strategy games. Mods are made by the general public or a developer, and can be entirely new games in themselves, but mods are not standalone software and...
, spin-off
Spin-off (media)
In media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...
s, and sequel
Sequel
A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...
s, including Half-Life 2
Half-Life 2
Half-Life 2 , the sequel to Half-Life, is a first-person shooter video game and a signature title in the Half-Life series. It is singleplayer, story-driven, science fiction, and linear...
. All current Valve games are built on its Source engine, which owes much of its success to mods and sequels. The company has developed six game series: Half-Life, Team Fortress
Team Fortress
Team Fortress is a team- and class-based online multiplayer video game mod based on id Software's Quake. Team Fortress was designed and written by Robin Walker, John Cook and Ian Caughley in 1996. The mod's gameplay has caught on with a large following of fans, which has spurred many developers to...
, Portal, Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike is a tactical first-person shooter video game developed by Valve Corporation which originated from a Half-Life modification by Minh "Gooseman" Le and Jess "Cliffe" Cliffe...
, Left 4 Dead
Left 4 Dead
Left 4 Dead is a cooperative first-person shooter video game. It was developed by Turtle Rock Studios, which was purchased by Valve Corporation during development. The game uses Valve's proprietary Source engine, and is available for Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360 and Mac OS X...
and Day of Defeat
Day of Defeat
Day of Defeat is a team-based multiplayer World War II first-person shooter video game of the European Theatre of World War II. As of 2008, the game is one of the ten most played Half-Life modifications in terms of players, according to GameSpy....
. Valve is noted for its support of its games' modding community: most prominently, Counter-Strike, Team Fortress, and Day of Defeat. Valve has branched out with this tradition to continue developing the Warcraft III-based mod Defense of the Ancients
Defense of the Ancients
Defense of the Ancients is a custom scenario for the real-time strategy game Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos and its expansion, Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne, based on the "Aeon of Strife" map for StarCraft...
with Dota 2
Dota 2
Dota 2 is an upcoming action fantasy strategy video game being developed by Valve Corporation. The stand-alone sequel to the popular Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos and The Frozen Throne mod Defense of the Ancients, it was formally announced on October 13, 2010 via the website of magazine Game Informer...
. Each of these games began as a third-party mod that Valve purchased and developed into a full game. They also distribute community mods on Steam.
Since Valve Corporation's debut, it has expanded both in scope and commercial value. On January 10, 2008, Valve Corporation announced the acquisition of Turtle Rock Studios
Turtle Rock Studios
Turtle Rock Studios is a video game developer founded in March 2002 by Michael Booth, later acquired by Valve Corporation. Turtle Rock Studios is involved in the creation of original titles as well as the provision of consulting services to the digital entertainment industry.Turtle Rock Studios is...
. On April 8, 2010, Valve won The Escapist Magazines March Mayhem tournament for the best developer of 2010, beating out Zynga
Zynga
Zynga is a social network game developer located in San Francisco, United States. The company develops browser-based games that work both stand-alone and as application widgets on social networking websites such as Facebook and MySpace....
in the semi-final and Bioware
BioWare
BioWare is a Canadian video game developer founded in February 1995 by newly graduated medical doctors Ray Muzyka, Greg Zeschuk, and Augustine Yip. BioWare is currently owned by American company Electronic Arts...
in the finale.
Games
| Title | Year | Genre | Platform |
|---|---|---|---|
| Half-Life | 1998 | First-person shooter First-person shooter First-person shooter is a video game genre that centers the gameplay on gun and projectile weapon-based combat through first-person perspective; i.e., the player experiences the action through the eyes of a protagonist. Generally speaking, the first-person shooter shares common traits with other... |
PC Personal computer A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator... , PlayStation 2 PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan... |
| Team Fortress Classic Team Fortress Classic Team Fortress Classic, also known as Team Fortress 1.5 or simply TFC, is a team-based multiplayer first-person shooter video game developed by Valve Corporation. It is a remake of the Team Fortress modification for Quake. Team Fortress Classic was originally released for Windows on April 7, 1999 as... |
1999 | First-person shooter | PC |
| Half-Life: Opposing Force Half-Life: Opposing Force Half-Life: Opposing Force is an expansion pack for Valve Software's science fiction first-person shooter video game Half-Life. The game was developed by Gearbox Software and Valve Corporation and published by Sierra Entertainment on November 1, 1999. Opposing Force is the first expansion for... |
1999 | Expansion pack Expansion pack An expansion pack, expansion set, or supplement is an addition to an existing role-playing game, tabletop game or video game. These add-ons usually add new game areas, weapons, objects, and/or an extended storyline to a complete and already released game... |
PC |
| Deathmatch Classic Deathmatch Classic Deathmatch Classic or DMC is a multiplayer video game developed by Valve as a tribute to Quake. It was released on June 1, 2001.-History:... |
2000 | First-person shooter | PC |
| Ricochet | 2000 | Action game Action game Action game is a video game genre that emphasizes physical challenges, including hand–eye coordination and reaction-time. The genre includes diverse subgenres such as fighting games, shooter games, and platform games, which are widely considered the most important action games, though some... |
PC |
| Counter-Strike Counter-Strike Counter-Strike is a tactical first-person shooter video game developed by Valve Corporation which originated from a Half-Life modification by Minh "Gooseman" Le and Jess "Cliffe" Cliffe... |
2000 | First-person shooter | PC, Xbox Xbox The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console... |
| Half-Life: Blue Shift Half-Life: Blue Shift Half-Life: Blue Shift is an expansion pack for Valve Software's science fiction first-person shooter video game Half-Life. The game was developed by Gearbox Software with Valve Corporation and published by Sierra Entertainment on June 12, 2001... |
2001 | Expansion pack | PC |
| Day of Defeat Day of Defeat Day of Defeat is a team-based multiplayer World War II first-person shooter video game of the European Theatre of World War II. As of 2008, the game is one of the ten most played Half-Life modifications in terms of players, according to GameSpy.... |
2003 | First-person shooter | PC |
| Counter-Strike: Condition Zero Counter-Strike: Condition Zero Counter-Strike: Condition Zero is a multiplayer video game and the follow-up to Counter-Strike. The game was released in 2004 using the GoldSrc Half-Life engine. CS:CZ features a multiplayer mode, which features updated character models, textures, maps and other graphical tweaks... |
2004 | First-person shooter | PC, Xbox |
| Half-Life: Source | 2004 | First-person shooter | PC |
| Counter-Strike: Source Counter-Strike: Source Counter-Strike: Source is an FPS video game developed by Valve Corporation. It is a complete remake of Counter-Strike using the Source game engine. As in the original, Counter-Strike: Source pits a team of counter-terrorists against a team of terrorists in a series of rounds... |
2004 | First-person shooter | PC, Mac Mac OS X Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems... |
| Half-Life 2 Half-Life 2 Half-Life 2 , the sequel to Half-Life, is a first-person shooter video game and a signature title in the Half-Life series. It is singleplayer, story-driven, science fiction, and linear... |
2004 | First-person shooter | PC, Xbox, Xbox 360 Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles... , PlayStation 3 PlayStation 3 The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles... , Mac |
| Half-Life 2: Deathmatch | 2004 | First-person shooter | PC, Mac |
| Half-Life Deathmatch: Source | 2005 | First-person shooter | PC |
| Day of Defeat: Source Day of Defeat: Source Day of Defeat: Source is a team-based first-person shooter multiplayer video game developed by Valve Corporation. Set in World War II, the game is an updated version of Day of Defeat, moving from the GoldSrc engine used by its predecessor to the Source engine... |
2005 | First-person shooter | PC, Mac |
| Half-Life 2: Lost Coast Half-Life 2: Lost Coast Half-Life 2: Lost Coast is a small additional level for the 2004 first-person shooter video game Half-Life 2. Developed by Valve Software, it was released on October 27, 2005, through the Steam content delivery service as a free download to owners of the Microsoft Windows version of Half-Life 2... |
2005 | First-person shooter | PC, Mac |
| Half-Life 2: Episode One Half-Life 2: Episode One Half-Life 2: Episode One is the first in a series of episodes that serve as the sequel for the 2004 first-person shooter video game Half-Life 2. It was developed by Valve Corporation and released on June 1, 2006. Originally called Half-Life 2: Aftermath, the game was later renamed to Episode One... |
2006 | First-person shooter | PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Mac |
| Half-Life 2: Episode Two Half-Life 2: Episode Two Half-Life 2: Episode Two is the second episode in a series of sequels to the 2004 first-person shooter video game Half-Life 2. It was developed by Valve Corporation in tandem with Episode One, the first game in the series, and released in Q4 2007 via Valve's Steam content distribution platform... |
2007 | First-person shooter | PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Mac |
| Portal | 2007 | Puzzle game | PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Mac |
| Team Fortress 2 Team Fortress 2 Team Fortress 2 is a free-to-play team-based first-person shooter multiplayer video game developed by Valve Corporation. A sequel to the original mod Team Fortress based on the Quake engine, it was first released as part of the video game compilation The Orange Box on October 10, 2007 for Windows... |
2007 | First-person shooter | PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Mac |
| Left 4 Dead Left 4 Dead Left 4 Dead is a cooperative first-person shooter video game. It was developed by Turtle Rock Studios, which was purchased by Valve Corporation during development. The game uses Valve's proprietary Source engine, and is available for Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360 and Mac OS X... |
2008 | First-person shooter | PC, Xbox 360, Mac |
| Left 4 Dead 2 Left 4 Dead 2 Left 4 Dead 2 is a cooperative first-person shooter video game. It is the sequel to Valve Corporation's award-winning Left 4 Dead. The game launched on November 17, 2009, for Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360 in the United States and November 20 in Europe; in 2010, Left 4 Dead 2 was made available to... |
2009 | First-person shooter | PC, Xbox 360, Mac |
| Alien Swarm Alien Swarm Alien Swarm is a total conversion mod for Unreal Tournament 2004 created by Black Cat Games and initially released on May 28, 2004. Alien Swarm, version 1.2 was released on September 10, 2004, with the official campaigns, Sigma and Ortega... |
2010 | Top-down shooter Shooter game Shooter games are a sub-genre of action game, which often test the player's speed and reaction time. It includes many subgenres that have the commonality of focusing "on the actions of the avatar using some sort of weapon. Usually this weapon is a gun, or some other long-range weapon". A common... |
PC |
| Portal 2 Portal 2 Portal 2 is a first-person puzzle-platform video game developed and published by Valve Corporation. The sequel to the 2007 video game Portal, it was announced on March 5, 2010, following a week-long alternate reality game based on new patches to the original game... |
2011 | Puzzle game | PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Mac |
| Dota 2 Dota 2 Dota 2 is an upcoming action fantasy strategy video game being developed by Valve Corporation. The stand-alone sequel to the popular Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos and The Frozen Throne mod Defense of the Ancients, it was formally announced on October 13, 2010 via the website of magazine Game Informer... |
2012 | Action RTS Dota (genre) The Dota genre is a sub-genre of real-time strategy video games, characterized by their likeness to Defense of the Ancients, a custom scenario for Warcraft 3 drawing from both real-time strategy and role-playing game influences. Compared to traditional real-time strategy games, elements such as... |
PC, Mac |
| Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is an online first-person shooter based game currently in development by Valve Software and Hidden Path Entertainment, who also co-developed Counter-Strike: Source... |
2012 | First-person shooter | PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Mac |
Half-Life
After securing a license to the Quake engineQuake engine
The Quake engine is the game engine that was written to power 1996's Quake, written by id Software. It featured true 3D real-time rendering and is now licensed under the terms of the GNU General Public License ....
(through the help of friend Michael Abrash
Michael Abrash
Michael Abrash is a technical writer specializing in optimization and 80x86 assembly language programming, a reputation cemented by his 1990 book Zen of Assembly Language Volume 1: Knowledge. The original 8086 processor, the focus of the book, was several generations behind the state of the art by...
of id Software
Id Software
Id Software is an American video game development company with its headquarters in Richardson, Texas. The company was founded in 1991 by four members of the computer company Softdisk: programmers John Carmack and John Romero, game designer Tom Hall, and artist Adrian Carmack...
) in late 1996, Newell and Harrington began working on Half-Life. Originally planned for release in late 1997, Half-Life launched on November 19, 1998. Valve acquired TF Software PTY Ltd, the makers of the Team Fortress
Team Fortress
Team Fortress is a team- and class-based online multiplayer video game mod based on id Software's Quake. Team Fortress was designed and written by Robin Walker, John Cook and Ian Caughley in 1996. The mod's gameplay has caught on with a large following of fans, which has spurred many developers to...
mod
Mod (computer gaming)
Mod or modification is a term generally applied to personal computer games , especially first-person shooters, role-playing games and real-time strategy games. Mods are made by the general public or a developer, and can be entirely new games in themselves, but mods are not standalone software and...
for Quake, in May 1998 with the intent to create a standalone Team Fortress
Team Fortress
Team Fortress is a team- and class-based online multiplayer video game mod based on id Software's Quake. Team Fortress was designed and written by Robin Walker, John Cook and Ian Caughley in 1996. The mod's gameplay has caught on with a large following of fans, which has spurred many developers to...
game. The Team Fortress Classic
Team Fortress Classic
Team Fortress Classic, also known as Team Fortress 1.5 or simply TFC, is a team-based multiplayer first-person shooter video game developed by Valve Corporation. It is a remake of the Team Fortress modification for Quake. Team Fortress Classic was originally released for Windows on April 7, 1999 as...
mod
Mod (computer gaming)
Mod or modification is a term generally applied to personal computer games , especially first-person shooters, role-playing games and real-time strategy games. Mods are made by the general public or a developer, and can be entirely new games in themselves, but mods are not standalone software and...
, essentially a port of the original Team Fortress mod for Quake, was released for Half-Life in 1999.
Gearbox contributed much after the release of Half-Life. Gearbox Software
Gearbox Software
Gearbox Software, LLC is an American video game development company based in Plano, Texas.-History:Gearbox Software was founded in January 1999 by five members of the content team from the defunct developer Rebel Boat Rocker: Randy Pitchford, Brian Martel, Stephen Bahl, Landon Montgomery, and Rob...
is responsible for the Half-Life expansion packs, Half-Life: Opposing Force
Half-Life: Opposing Force
Half-Life: Opposing Force is an expansion pack for Valve Software's science fiction first-person shooter video game Half-Life. The game was developed by Gearbox Software and Valve Corporation and published by Sierra Entertainment on November 1, 1999. Opposing Force is the first expansion for...
and Half-Life: Blue Shift
Half-Life: Blue Shift
Half-Life: Blue Shift is an expansion pack for Valve Software's science fiction first-person shooter video game Half-Life. The game was developed by Gearbox Software with Valve Corporation and published by Sierra Entertainment on June 12, 2001...
, along with the home console versions of Half-Life for the Sega
Sega
, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...
Dreamcast and Sony
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
which included a third expansion pack called Half-Life: Decay
Half-Life: Decay
Half-Life: Decay is an expansion pack for Valve Software's science fiction, first-person shooter video game Half-Life. Developed by Gearbox Software and published by Sierra Entertainment, Decay was released as part of the PlayStation 2 version of Half-Life released on November 14, 2001...
, that enabled two-player split-screen co-op
Cooperative gameplay
Cooperative gameplay is a feature in video games that allows players to work together as teammates. It is distinct from other multiplayer modes, such as competitive multiplayer modes like player versus player or deathmatch...
.
Steam
Patch (computing)
A patch is a piece of software designed to fix problems with, or update a computer program or its supporting data. This includes fixing security vulnerabilities and other bugs, and improving the usability or performance...
process common in online computer games, but was later revealed as a replacement for much of the framework of the World Opponent Network
World Opponent Network
World Opponent Network or WON was an online gaming service, created by Sierra Games as the Sierra Internet Gaming System . WON was used by games such as Homeworld, Half-Life, Star Trek: Armada, Soldier of Fortune, Dark Reign 2, Silencer, ARC and online versions of casino games as well as early...
service and also as a distribution/digital rights management
Digital rights management
Digital rights management is a class of access control technologies that are used by hardware manufacturers, publishers, copyright holders and individuals with the intent to limit the use of digital content and devices after sale. DRM is any technology that inhibits uses of digital content that...
system for entire games.
Valve has shown support for some of their games. For example, Valve has offered considerable updates for Team Fortress 2
Team Fortress 2
Team Fortress 2 is a free-to-play team-based first-person shooter multiplayer video game developed by Valve Corporation. A sequel to the original mod Team Fortress based on the Quake engine, it was first released as part of the video game compilation The Orange Box on October 10, 2007 for Windows...
; including adding new maps, new game modes, additional weapons, new achievements, and additional game play mechanics, as well adding a store which sells in-game items
Virtual good
Virtual goods are non-physical objects purchased for use in online communities or online games. They have no intrinsic value and are intangible by definition....
. All such updates are mandatory, and provided free of charge.
There are over 1,400 games available on Steam, and in October 2010 Valve announced that it had surpassed 30 million active user accounts.
Valve vs Vivendi case
Between 2002 and 2005, Valve was involved in a complex legal showdown with its publisher, Vivendi Universal (under Vivendi's brand Sierra EntertainmentSierra Entertainment
Sierra Entertainment Inc. was an American video-game developer and publisher founded in 1979 as On-Line Systems by Ken and Roberta Williams...
). It officially began on August 14, 2002, when Valve sued Sierra for copyright infringement
Copyright infringement
Copyright infringement is the unauthorized or prohibited use of works under copyright, infringing the copyright holder's exclusive rights, such as the right to reproduce or perform the copyrighted work, or to make derivative works.- "Piracy" :...
, alleging that the publisher illegally distributed copies of their games to Internet cafe
Internet cafe
An Internet café or cybercafé is a place which provides internet access to the public, usually for a fee. These businesses usually provide snacks and drinks, hence the café in the name...
s. They later added claims of breach of contract
Breach of contract
Breach of contract is a legal cause of action 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 or interference with the other party's performance....
, accusing their publisher of withholding royalties and delaying the release of Counter-Strike: Condition Zero
Counter-Strike: Condition Zero
Counter-Strike: Condition Zero is a multiplayer video game and the follow-up to Counter-Strike. The game was released in 2004 using the GoldSrc Half-Life engine. CS:CZ features a multiplayer mode, which features updated character models, textures, maps and other graphical tweaks...
until after the holiday season.
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. Vivendi sought intellectual property
Intellectual property
Intellectual property is a term referring to a number of distinct types of creations of the mind for which a set of exclusive rights are recognized—and the corresponding fields of law...
rights to Half-Life and a ruling preventing Valve from using Steam to distribute Half-Life 2.
On November 29, 2004, Judge Thomas S. Zilly of U.S. Federal District Court in Seattle, Washington
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
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. Valve posted on the Steam website that the two companies had come to a settlement in court on April 29, 2005. Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts, Inc. is a major American developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers...
announced on July 18, 2005 they would be teaming up with Valve in a multi-year deal to distribute their games, replacing Vivendi Universal from then onwards. As a result of the trial, the arbitrator also awarded Valve $2,391,932.
Activision lawsuit
In April 2009, Valve sued Activision BlizzardActivision Blizzard
Activision Blizzard, Inc., formerly Activision, Inc. is the American holding company for Activision and Blizzard Entertainment. The company is majority owned by French conglomerate Vivendi SA and was created through the merger of Activision and Vivendi Games, announced on December 2, 2007, in a...
, which acquired Sierra Entertainment
Sierra Entertainment
Sierra Entertainment Inc. was an American video-game developer and publisher founded in 1979 as On-Line Systems by Ken and Roberta Williams...
after a merger with its parent company, Vivendi Universal Games. Activision had allegedly refused to honor the Valve vs Vivendi arbitration agreement. Activision had only paid Valve $1,967,796 of the $2,391,932 award, refusing to pay the remaining $424,136 claiming it had overpaid that sum in the past years.
“Valve Time”
“Valve Time” has become an industry term used jokingly with game releases from Valve, used to acknowledge the difference between the promised time for released content stated by Valve and to the actual release time; “Valve Time” includes predominate delays but also includes some content that was released earlier than expected. Valve itself has fully acknowledged the term, including tracking known discrepancies between ideal and actual releases on their public development wiki and using it in announcements about such delays. Valve ascribes their delays to their mentality of team-driven initiatives over corporate deadlines to make sure they provide a high quality product to their customers. The company does try to avoid unintentional delays of their projects, and believes that the earlier occurrences of “Valve Time” delays, primarily from Half-Life development, has helped them improve their release schedules.See also
- List of games developed by Valve
- Valve Anti-CheatValve Anti-CheatValve Anti-Cheat, abbreviated to VAC, is an anti-cheat solution developed by Valve Corporation as a component of the Steam game development platform.-History:...
- PowerPlay (technology)PowerPlay (technology)PowerPlay was a technological initiative headed by Valve Software and Cisco Systems to decrease the latency for online computer games. Gabe Newell, the managing director of Valve Software, announced the project in January 2000 and after 12 months the project was quietly abandoned.PowerPlay was...
- Source (game engine)
- Steam (software)
- List of Steam games