Valve is 30 years old today, and it all began with two former Microsoft employees and a risky bet on games
Interestingly, both Newell and Harrington had just quit Microsoft before they started Valve. Newell had been there for thirteen years by that point, working on early versions of Windows. The job had also made him rich enough to fund a startup himself, since he left with more than a million... Read Entire Article
On August 24, 1996, thirty years ago, Gabe Newell and Mike Harrington signed paperwork to form Valve, LLC. Both men had recently left Microsoft. Newell, who had been there for 13 years, left with over a million dollars of his own money. Harrington, on the other hand, proposed using the money to start a gaming company. They set up their office in Kirkland, Washington, just five miles from Microsoft's campus.
Sierra On-Line, a local publisher, invested a million dollars, receiving 30% of the revenue and all intellectual property. The pair needed four million more to cover the cost. Harrington used his Microsoft shares, while Newell borrowed against his. Valve's first big hit, Half-Life, released in 1998, sold 2.5 million copies in its first year.
Steam, launched five years later, initially aimed to resolve frequent patch issues. Now, it generates most of Valve's revenue. Valve makes 30% of sales through the store. The company has also invested in its own hardware, with the Steam Deck released in 2022 and the Steam Machine in June.
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