![]() It immediately was embraced by PC gamers in the then early days of the internet.Īn assortment of real-life weapons were available to be equipped as players earned in-game currency based on their performance from previous rounds. Players assumed the roles of either Terrorist or Counter-Terrorist units and were pitted against each other in sandbox maps. Perhaps the most popular FPS ever on the PC platform, Counter-Strike was originally a Half-Life mod created by a couple of designers. It has led many gamers to believe that Valve can’t count to three. ![]() Its constant absence has evolved into a popular meme amongst gamers who joke about how Half-Life 3 is confirmed through arbitrary media released by Valve. However, Episode 3 or Half-Life 3that was once teased and talked about by Gabe Newell has become a mystery. Many expansions and even a sequel built Half-Life into a franchise full of rabid fans. It let players feel like they were inside an interactive film - evoking surprising emotions throughout the story. Unlike other “cutting edge” titles of the late ’90s, Half-Life didn’t have any cutscenes, instead letting players experience everything through Gordon’s eyes. The game was praised for it’s original style of storytelling. After a lab experiment goes awry, a portal to another dimension is opened and let’s just say that stuff starts to get weird from then on. The game that put them on the map, Half-Life is actually one of Valve’s very few pieces of software that was their original concept from the start. Set at the Black Mesa Research Facility, Half-Life was a groundbreaking first-person narrative game revolving around it’s protagonist - Dr. Little did people know that they would become one of the most successful game companies ever. At E3 1997, Half-Life was demoed for all to see and quickly became the talk of the show, though it wasn’t easy to get the PC FPC on store shelves. After some lengthy delays (a Valve trademark), Half-Life finally released in November 1998 to critical acclaim, big sales, and put Valve on the map as a studio with a bright future. While many other publishers found the new company’s promises of the game to be too advanced or lofty, now-defunct Sierra Online decided to take a gamble and publish it. Their initial undertaking was to create a 3D shooter by the name of Half-Life. And contrary to other studios, Valve hired talent from non-traditional areas, like modders who became a valuable asset to the company in designing Valve’s first title. He instructed Newell and Harrington to license a game engine (Carmack’s own Quakein this case) and start to produce their own game with it. To get some advice about their new venture, the ex-Microsoft pair reached out to gaming legend John Carmack. ![]() They were both involved in the successful Windows operating systems and both did very well for themselves during their tenures at MS. While both had no experience in the gaming industry, their software business expertise and motivation led the pair to leave Microsoft to start a business of their own. It was during the summer of 1996 that Microsoft employees Gabe Newell and Mike Harrington felt that they needed a change of scenery. How did Valve get its start? What are its most important games? And what is its future? Let’s see… How it All Began To celebrate the company’s two decades of excellence and popularity, let’s take a trip down memory lane to see where it all began. It’s a milestone that so few independent developers hit, especially ones that had such humble beginnings as Valve’s. The gaming giant and owners of the top PC game storefront, Valve, turned 20 years old on August 24. It’s not unusual for anniversaries to make gamers like myself feel old and this one is no exception.
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