Valve

Valve at a Glance

Valve is an American developer and publisher founded in 1996 by former Microsoft employees Gabe Newell and Mike Harrington. Their catalog on PlayPile contains 46 titles, with the company acting as publisher for 39 of them and developer for 38. The data shows a heavy focus on the shooter genre, which accounts for 32 of their games. Adventure and puzzle titles each make up nine entries, while strategy and platform games appear five and four times respectively. Other genres like tactical, MOBA, arcade, and RPG are much smaller parts of their portfolio with only two or three entries each. The company operates across many platforms but leans heavily toward PC. Forty titles run on Microsoft Windows, followed by 25 for Linux and 24 for Mac. They also have a presence on Xbox 360 with ten games and five on PlayStation 3. Their reach extends to VR hardware like SteamVR and Oculus Rift, as well as mobile and console systems like Android, Nintendo Switch, and PlayStation 2. Valve has been active from 1998 through 2023, but their output slowed significantly over time. They released only three games in the 1990s, jumped to 21 titles in the 2000s, dropped to 13 in the 2010s, and released just four in the 2020s so far. This decline suggests a shift toward fewer but potentially more significant releases rather than a constant stream of new products. Quality control appears strong for their major hits. The average rating across 32 rated titles is 76.1 out of 100. Their portfolio includes 12 great games with scores over 80 and 19 good titles between 60 and 79. There are no mixed or poor ratings in the dataset, though one title falls below 40. Top-rated entries include Half-Life: Alyx at 92.9, Portal 2 at 91.9, and Portal: Still Alive at 90.4. They also released Left 4 Dead 2 and Dota 2 with scores above 80. Recent releases show a drop in scores compared to their classics. Counter-Strike 2 received a 69.4 rating in September 2023, and Aperture Desk Job scored 72.9 in March 2022. Half-Life: Alyx remains their highest-rated recent game at 92.9. The company is best known for franchises like Half-Life, Counter-Strike, Portal, Team Fortress, Left 4 Dead, and Dota, along with the Day of Defeat series. They also created the Steam distribution platform. Their history shows a mix of high acclaim and occasional lower scores on newer entries.

Release Timeline

Rating Distribution