Jump to content

Valve Corporation

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Mamaluigisover9000 (talk | contribs) at 23:25, 8 March 2010. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Valve Corporation
Company typePrivate
IndustryComputer software, Interactive entertainment
FoundedKirkland, Washington, USA (1996)
FounderGabe Newell and Mike Harrington
Headquarters
Bellevue, Washington
,
U.S.
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
joe mama, co-founder and managing director
ProductsHalf-Life series
Counter-Strike series
Day of Defeat series
Team Fortress series
Portal
Left 4 Dead series
Source
Steam
Valve Anti-Cheat
RevenueIncrease$70million USD (2007)
Number of employees
250 (2009)[1]
Websitewww.valvesoftware.com

Valve Corporation is an American video game development and digital distribution 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.

History

Valve was founded as an L.L.C. based in Kirkland, Washington. After incorporation in 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-offs, and sequels, 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 produced six games 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 each began as a third-party mod that Valve purchased and developed into a full game. They also distribute community mods on Steam.

On January 10, 2008, Valve Corporation announced the acquisition of Turtle Rock Studios.[2]

On October 5, 2009, Defense of the Ancients (DotA) developer IceFrog announced that he would be leading a team at Valve to further develop DotA.[3]

Half-Life

Main article: Half-Life (video game)

Long-time Microsoft employees Gabe Newell and Mike Harrington founded Valve on August 24, 1996.[4][5] 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. 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.

Steam

Main article: Steam (content delivery)
Gabe Newell (foreground) and Doug Lombardi (background), 2007

Valve announced its Steam content delivery system in 2002. At the time, it looked to be a method of streamlining the patch process common in online computer games. 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.

Through Steam, Valve has shown substantial support for their games through regular updates. 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. There have been eight major updates in the game's two-year history, along with many bug-fixes and smaller additions.[6] All such updates are provided free of charge.

There are over 1,000 games available on Steam, and in January 2010 Valve announced that it had surpassed 25 million active user accounts.[7]

Controversy

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 Entertainment). 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. 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.[8] Valve posted on the Steam website that the two companies had come to a settlement in court on April 29, 2005.[9] 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.[10] As a result of the trial, the arbitrator also awarded Valve $2,391,932.

Activision lawsuit

In April 2009, Valve sued Activision Blizzard, 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.[11]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Interview with Chet Faliszek". CVG.com. Retrieved 2009-11-13.
  2. ^ "Valve Acquires Turtle Rock Studios" (Press release). Valve Corporation. 2008-01-10. Retrieved 2008-01-10.
  3. ^ IceFrog (2009-09-05). "Great News For DotA Fans". www.PlayDota.com. Retrieved 2009-10-05.
  4. ^ "Steam Message". Steam. Valve Corporation. 2007-08-24. Retrieved 2008-11-08. it was exactly eleven years ago that Valve was born
  5. ^ Towns, William R. (2005-03-09). "Valve Corporation v. ValveNET, Inc., ValveNET, Inc., Charles Morrin Case No. D2005-0038". WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center. World Intellectual Property Organization. Retrieved 2008-11-08.
  6. ^ "TF2.com". Valve Corporation. Retrieved 22 January 2010.
  7. ^ "Steam Realizes Extraordinary Growth in 2009". Valve Corporation. 2010-01-29. Retrieved 29 January 2010.
  8. ^ Feldman, Curt (2004-09-20). "Valve vs. Vivendi Universal dogfight heats up in US District Court". GameSpot. CNET Networks, Inc. Retrieved 2008-11-08.
  9. ^ Steam "Valve and Vivendi Universal Games Settle Lawsuit" (Press release). Valve Corporation. 2005-04-29. Retrieved 2008-11-08. {{cite press release}}: Check |url= value (help)
  10. ^ "EA and Valve Team Up to Deliver Half Life to Gamers Worldwide". Electronic Arts Inc. 2005-07-18. Retrieved 2008-11-08.
  11. ^ "It's Ugly: Valve Sues Activision, Activision Threatens to Sue Valve". gamepolitics.com. 2009-04-30. Retrieved 2009-05-01. Against that backdrop, Activision cut Valve a check last week for $1,967,796 - the amount handed down by the arbitrator less the disputed $424K. According to Valve's suit, Activision said that it wouldn't pay the rest and if Valve went to court Activision would countersue. Valve has apparently called Activision's bluff and the parties are now once again at odds.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Valve_Corporation&oldid=348630225"