GDC 2025 Session Viewer

Valve is now the most successful privately held game company in the world. How did a tiny startup, dismissed by some industry insiders early on as "a couple of Microsoft developers trying to build a game on top of id's engine" set itself apart? Monica Harrington was the founding CMO for Valve during a time when her day job included overseeing Games Marketing for Microsoft. This is her account of Valve's early days--from the initial strategy discussions she had with Valve founders Gabe Newell and Mike Harrington, to the audacious goals she and Gabe set for the launch of Valve's debut game Half-Life, to the early thinking behind Valve's bold platform strategy. Expect fun anecdotes, behind-the-scenes near-death startup drama, and a bit of reflection - all from the perspective of a woman who played a key role in the industry rocket that became Valve.

Takeaway

What does it feel like to launch an industry rocket like Half-Life as your debut game? How Valve Became Valve is all about the craziness of startup life at an epic scale. Come for the fun anecdotes and a bit of strategy, and walk away with a bigger understanding of what it takes to dream big, go for broke, and pivot when everything hits the fan.

Intended Audience

General Audience. For anyone who's ever been curious about how V-A-L-V-E (because I had to spell it for reporters in the early days) became Valve.