Valve is celebrating its 30th anniversary today. Gabe Newell and Mike Harrington founded the company on August 24, 1996. Over the past three decades, Valve has become one of the most influential companies in the video game industry and has played a major role in shaping the modern PC gaming ecosystem.
Valve's first major release was Half Life, which launched in 1998. The acclaimed shooter became one of the defining games of its era and eventually led to the creation of famous projects such as Counter Strike and Team Fortress.
In 2003, Valve launched Steam. What began as a service primarily designed around the company's own games eventually grew into the world's leading digital distribution platform for PC gaming.
Half Life 2 followed in 2004, while Valve later released a number of other major titles, including Portal, Left 4 Dead and Dota 2. The company also returned to the Half Life universe with the VR title Half Life: Alyx in 2020.
Across three decades, Valve has given players two installments of Half Life, Portal, Counter Strike, Team Fortress, Left 4 Dead and Dota, before seemingly deciding that counting to three was not necessary. Steam, of course, deserves special recognition as one of the most important platforms in PC gaming.
Valve has also increasingly focused on hardware in recent years. After the relatively unsuccessful Steam Machines and Steam Controller, the company found much greater success with Steam Deck, which became one of the best known handheld gaming PCs.
In 2026, Valve continued expanding its hardware lineup with a new generation of Steam Machine and an updated Steam Controller. The company is also preparing to launch its Steam Frame VR headset.
Over 30 years, Valve has gone from a small game studio to a company that has influenced nearly every major aspect of PC gaming. It has transformed how games are distributed, created some of the industry's most recognizable franchises and continues to experiment with what a gaming computer can be.
As a Reminder, Gran Turismo 7 Gets a Major Update That Significantly Changes Physics and Handling.