7 ms·

This is pretty out of date (I remember when they first released it). The org chart stuff is wrong, in the last few years (around the time of Alyx) they moved to

by easton 4y ago

This is pretty out of date (I remember when they first released it). The org chart stuff is wrong, in the last few years (around the time of Alyx) they moved to a more normal corporate structure so they would actually finish projects instead of people bouncing when the project got hard.

Jagerbizzle 4y ago
If they actually spent as much time as they claim hiring great people, you'd think a few of them would actually stick around on a project long enough to ship it.
- xahrepap 4y ago
  The Steam Deck is quite excellent. And it just shipped. Though I would love to see a game come out of there again sometime. :)
  - klodolph 4y ago
    HL-3 would never make as much revenue as all those hats they made for Team Fortress 2.
  - girvo 4y ago
    I would love to see the Steam Deck release in Australia mind you. Still kind of wild to me that it hasn't been. Conspiratorialy, I always wonder if it's punishment for the ACCC forcing Valve/Steam to handle refunds via Aus consumer law, but I have no evidence of that.
    - denkmoon 4y ago
      Valve appears to have determined that for whatever reason it's not worth selling hardware in Australia. No Index here either.
      - girvo 4y ago
        Hence my conspiracy theory! My wild assumption is that they don't want to deal with our consumer law, and/or they want to punish us for the ACCC forcing them to respect it wrt. Steam.
      - tenryuu 4y ago
        ? https://www.ebgames.com.au/featured/valve-index https://www.ebgames.com.au/featured/valve-index
        denkmoon 4y ago
        Well there it is. Definitely wasn't available from EB within the first 12 months of launch though. I know because I wanted one.
        tenryuu 4y ago
        Took two whole years to arrive according to PCGAMER, appearing online for preorder in June last year
      - brnaftr361 4y ago
        From the document provided in TFA there seems to be a probable explanation (see pg. 55): Australia — A place that’s either very near or is New Zealand where more than half of Valve’s employees were born.
        girvo 4y ago
        That's the funniest part too, they don't sell their hardware in New Zealand either.
- paxys 4y ago
  Valve's only real product is the digital store. The 30% Steam tax is what drives the company. Everything else is a hobby.
  - jjoonathan 4y ago
    Alyx was high quality for a hobby.
    - bt4u 4y ago
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
- Entinel 4y ago
  Half-Life Alyx in 2020 and the Steam Deck this year?
  - Jagerbizzle 4y ago
    I wasn't attempting to troll here, my reply was directly to this claim from the parent comment: "they moved to a more normal corporate structure so they would actually finish projects instead of people bouncing when the project got hard"
    - squeaky-clean 4y ago
      And they finished Half Life Alyx and the Steam Deck. I don't get your point. The origin of that quote is from the written documentary they made about the development of Alyx.
      - Jagerbizzle 4y ago
        "people bouncing when the project got hard" My point, in response to this specific quote from the person I was replying to, is that good people don't bounce when a project gets hard, they in fact do the opposite. If you disagree with the statement I quoted from the person I was replying to that's fine, I have no bone to pick.
  - humaniania 4y ago
    And the Index on which to play Alyx.
- teawrecks 4y ago
  They're more than just a game studio these days, they're a major driving force of the entire industry. Linux gaming is totally viable today, something valve did almost singlehandedly over the last 7ish years (with big help from google, intel, and a few others). I'd say that's a pretty impressive feat. Then you have their VR and steam deck hardware that is setting the bar for new gaming platforms. The fact that they also found time to ship a game is just icing on top IMO.
  - kranke155 4y ago
    Here’s a small list of what Valve invented or developed over years: Counter - Strike Steam (and numerous innovations within it) Dota 2 Portal 1 and 2 The entire VR industry as it exists today comes from Valve showing Oculus their far more advanced prototype and giving them the tech, which later led to FB acquisition CastAR which was initially developed at valve - so far not successful but I think it has potential. The best VR game currently available - half life Alyx Gaming on Linux through Proton Steam Deck
    - account42 4y ago
      > Counter - Strike > Dota > Portal 1 > Gaming on Linux through Wine These were all invented outside of Valve.
      - kranke155 4y ago
        Portal 1 was definitely not invented outside of Valve - students had built a game with some similar mechanics. Portal was funded and developed at Valve afaik. Does wine even compare to what Valve has accomplished with Proton?
dag11 4y ago
That's not correct, nothing about our org structure changed before, during, or after Alyx. We're still totally flat, desks on wheels.
- paulryanrogers 4y ago
  If it's totally flat then do folks write their own paychecks? My guess is no and there is still a hierarchy, however obscure.
  - klodolph 4y ago
    > My guess is no and there is still a hierarchy, however obscure. This is my suspicion as well, and my experience with "flat" organizations. Hierarchy and power dynamics are phenomena that occur in organizations. If you do not create the power structure on purpose, it will arise spontaneously, as your organization grows. If you try to suppress power structures, the power structures will hide themselves. This isn't some conspiracy theory stuff. It just means that in any organization, some people will have some authority--because they are liked, maybe because they get things done, maybe because they know things, maybe because they've just been around a long time. These people end up getting kept in the loop for decisions, not because anyone is directed to keep them in the loop, but simply because it's the way things are done. If you try to do something outside this power structure, you may encounter organizational resistance--if for no other reason than because you're doing things differently from everyone else. It is more difficult to navigate these kinds of power structures because there's still someone in charge, more or less--but it's not written down. Sometimes you encounter a truly flat organization, but they tend to be very small. I don't think it scales well.
    - the_af 4y ago
      About power structures arising spontaneously: indeed, that's the topic of a very insightful and well known essay about supposedly flat organizations (from the perspective of a feminist author), "The Tyranny of Structurelessness" [1] The gist is that in officially flat organizations, there always exists an unofficial hierarchy that arises organically, and that because it's unofficial it's unaccountable, unlike a formal hierarchy one could theoretically dissent with or challenge. [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tyranny_of_Structurelessness https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tyranny_of_Structureless...
kabdib 4y ago
This is completely untrue.
Aardwolf 4y ago
And despite that there still is no Half Life 3 :(

by easton 4y ago

Jagerbizzle 4y ago

If they actually spent as much time as they claim hiring great people, you'd think a few of them would actually stick around on a project long enough to ship it.

xahrepap 4y ago
The Steam Deck is quite excellent. And it just shipped. Though I would love to see a game come out of there again sometime. :)
- klodolph 4y ago
  HL-3 would never make as much revenue as all those hats they made for Team Fortress 2.
- girvo 4y ago
  I would love to see the Steam Deck release in Australia mind you. Still kind of wild to me that it hasn't been. Conspiratorialy, I always wonder if it's punishment for the ACCC forcing Valve/Steam to handle refunds via Aus consumer law, but I have no evidence of that.
  - denkmoon 4y ago
    Valve appears to have determined that for whatever reason it's not worth selling hardware in Australia. No Index here either.
    - girvo 4y ago
      Hence my conspiracy theory! My wild assumption is that they don't want to deal with our consumer law, and/or they want to punish us for the ACCC forcing them to respect it wrt. Steam.
    - tenryuu 4y ago
      ? https://www.ebgames.com.au/featured/valve-index https://www.ebgames.com.au/featured/valve-index
      - denkmoon 4y ago
        Well there it is. Definitely wasn't available from EB within the first 12 months of launch though. I know because I wanted one.
        tenryuu 4y ago
        Took two whole years to arrive according to PCGAMER, appearing online for preorder in June last year
    - brnaftr361 4y ago
      From the document provided in TFA there seems to be a probable explanation (see pg. 55): Australia — A place that’s either very near or is New Zealand where more than half of Valve’s employees were born.
      - girvo 4y ago
        That's the funniest part too, they don't sell their hardware in New Zealand either.
paxys 4y ago
Valve's only real product is the digital store. The 30% Steam tax is what drives the company. Everything else is a hobby.
- jjoonathan 4y ago
  Alyx was high quality for a hobby.
  - bt4u 4y ago
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
Entinel 4y ago
Half-Life Alyx in 2020 and the Steam Deck this year?
- Jagerbizzle 4y ago
  I wasn't attempting to troll here, my reply was directly to this claim from the parent comment: "they moved to a more normal corporate structure so they would actually finish projects instead of people bouncing when the project got hard"
  - squeaky-clean 4y ago
    And they finished Half Life Alyx and the Steam Deck. I don't get your point. The origin of that quote is from the written documentary they made about the development of Alyx.
    - Jagerbizzle 4y ago
      "people bouncing when the project got hard" My point, in response to this specific quote from the person I was replying to, is that good people don't bounce when a project gets hard, they in fact do the opposite. If you disagree with the statement I quoted from the person I was replying to that's fine, I have no bone to pick.
- humaniania 4y ago
  And the Index on which to play Alyx.
teawrecks 4y ago
They're more than just a game studio these days, they're a major driving force of the entire industry. Linux gaming is totally viable today, something valve did almost singlehandedly over the last 7ish years (with big help from google, intel, and a few others). I'd say that's a pretty impressive feat. Then you have their VR and steam deck hardware that is setting the bar for new gaming platforms. The fact that they also found time to ship a game is just icing on top IMO.
- kranke155 4y ago
  Here’s a small list of what Valve invented or developed over years: Counter - Strike Steam (and numerous innovations within it) Dota 2 Portal 1 and 2 The entire VR industry as it exists today comes from Valve showing Oculus their far more advanced prototype and giving them the tech, which later led to FB acquisition CastAR which was initially developed at valve - so far not successful but I think it has potential. The best VR game currently available - half life Alyx Gaming on Linux through Proton Steam Deck
  - account42 4y ago
    > Counter - Strike > Dota > Portal 1 > Gaming on Linux through Wine These were all invented outside of Valve.
    - kranke155 4y ago
      Portal 1 was definitely not invented outside of Valve - students had built a game with some similar mechanics. Portal was funded and developed at Valve afaik. Does wine even compare to what Valve has accomplished with Proton?

dag11 4y ago

That's not correct, nothing about our org structure changed before, during, or after Alyx. We're still totally flat, desks on wheels.

paulryanrogers 4y ago
If it's totally flat then do folks write their own paychecks? My guess is no and there is still a hierarchy, however obscure.
- klodolph 4y ago
  > My guess is no and there is still a hierarchy, however obscure. This is my suspicion as well, and my experience with "flat" organizations. Hierarchy and power dynamics are phenomena that occur in organizations. If you do not create the power structure on purpose, it will arise spontaneously, as your organization grows. If you try to suppress power structures, the power structures will hide themselves. This isn't some conspiracy theory stuff. It just means that in any organization, some people will have some authority--because they are liked, maybe because they get things done, maybe because they know things, maybe because they've just been around a long time. These people end up getting kept in the loop for decisions, not because anyone is directed to keep them in the loop, but simply because it's the way things are done. If you try to do something outside this power structure, you may encounter organizational resistance--if for no other reason than because you're doing things differently from everyone else. It is more difficult to navigate these kinds of power structures because there's still someone in charge, more or less--but it's not written down. Sometimes you encounter a truly flat organization, but they tend to be very small. I don't think it scales well.
  - the_af 4y ago
    About power structures arising spontaneously: indeed, that's the topic of a very insightful and well known essay about supposedly flat organizations (from the perspective of a feminist author), "The Tyranny of Structurelessness" [1] The gist is that in officially flat organizations, there always exists an unofficial hierarchy that arises organically, and that because it's unofficial it's unaccountable, unlike a formal hierarchy one could theoretically dissent with or challenge. [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tyranny_of_Structurelessness https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tyranny_of_Structureless...

kabdib 4y ago

This is completely untrue.

Aardwolf 4y ago

And despite that there still is no Half Life 3 :(