Valve, the company that for years held the monopoly of selling video games on the PC market. A colossus born in 1996 founded by the now more than well known Gabe Newell, which, however, has not exclusively dealt with digital sales. Outside of Steam there is in fact a real world to which Valve has actively and constantly participated for many years, that of the development and publishing of real authentic original video games. Of the important stages they see Valve protagonist have in fact marked the media we currently know. The titles developed by the software house before and after the arrival of Steam in 2003 they were all fundamental, some more, some less, to get to where we are now.
By now, any player cannot fail to have heard of the queen platform of the PC market, but many do not know the ten-year history of this software house. Let's deepen it together, just in conjunction with the Valve's return to game development owners.
The history of the Valve Corporation software house
The software house that is now known as Valve Corporation was actually born in the now distant 1996, under the name of Valve LLC. Already in the year of its official creation, the first major project aiming to revolutionize the entire industry was successfully completed and released. We are talking about the first chapter of Half Life, which gave the video game medium a huge shock due to its incredibly innovative mechanics for the time it was released.
However, it was not a single stroke of luck, because later Half Life many more titles of enormous importance were produced in the following years. Let's talk about the mod of Team Fortress, of the now extinct Day of Defeat and the first appearance of Counter Strike, also born just as a "simple" mod. The creative process, however, had a very important fundamental drift, when in 2003 the software house officially released a platform for the sale of digital video games on PC: Steam.
Given the great success Valve he also had the opportunity to create his own game engine which evolved considerably over time. It is about source, thanks to which the project of Counter Strike: Source came to life. Their next creation was Half Life: 2, which obviously took full advantage of the brand new engine, as did its two episodic DLCs. As we all know, a third and final episode is still loudly requested, awaited by all fans… but it continues to be waited for, in fact after more than 15 years it has unfortunately not yet seen the light.
After many important titles such as i Left 4 Dead and the highly acclaimed Portal developed and published, Valve stopped and created no new works. Support a Dota 2 e Counterstrike: Global Offensive continues today, but a team dedicated to the creation of new products is not present implemented in the company ... or so it was legitimate to think until the announcement of Half Life: Alyx.
The return of Valve in the creative process of new works
Over the past few years, the goals of Valve they are strongly detached from the production of new titles, since apart from the post-launch support of the two products already mentioned, the primary objectives were decidedly different. The software house has in fact managed to live on an income thanks to Steam, but also dabbled in implementing new mechanics within the platform. The hardware side was also covered, with several projects such as the Steam Machine and Steam Controller which, however, have not received exactly rosy results.
Lately, given the arrival of theEpic Games Store as the main competitor of the PC market, as well as the creation of other proprietary launchers directly from other software houses, Valve started to get busy. After several and persistent leaks, the official trailer of Half Life: Alyx has finally arrived. This is currently a PC exclusive in VR, obviously also compatible with the viewer for virtual reality Steam Index.
An unexpected return full of new expectations and news
The new arrival in the software market by Valve it does not seem to be configured as a simple flash in the pan. Half Life: Alyx is in fact a prequel to Half Life 2, but it has already been stated that if the public response is positive, new chapters could see the light in the next few years. The colossus is therefore apparently back in the game in all respects, and we could therefore expect new IPs Valve, although perhaps not in the short term.
The resumption of development certainly entails new prospects on the horizon, which will certainly be favorable for users of the PC world. After theEpic Games Store has decided to fight the PC sales front with the purchase of various exclusive licenses, and with many games as gifts for users weekly, the response of Valve has finally come.
In fact, it seemed somewhat ambiguous that the company was not reacting in any way to events that should have affected it personally. The reaction could therefore be linked to the creation of own securities, which are therefore not exclusive acquired. These will certainly bring a good catchment area to remain on the platform, preferring it to the others.
What war wants cHalf Life: Alyx?
Despite the move by Valve and its return to the market are probably centered on the loyalty of PC users, we must not forget the premises of Half Life: Alyx. This is in fact an exclusive title for VR and its purpose, even if perhaps secondary, can certainly be another. It cannot be excluded that the accessory objective is the sale of many viewers Valve Index, precisely as already said compatible with the new project of the world of Half Life. The new projects could therefore be linked to other virtual reality games, which as stated by the developers was an incentive to get back into the game on this field.
In fact, it recently emerged that when the team decided to devote themselves to the development of Half Life episode 3, the claims of the fans terrified the developers, who ended up giving in and truncating the work in progress. It is certainly not certain that if the story of Half Life will continue with a new episode in today's sauce, because we will have to wait for the reaction of the public once it Half Life: Alyx will finally be on the market. Furthermore, just as happened with other works of the software house, a possible arrival of some titles on consoles cannot be excluded, which could further increase the catchment area and give new initiatives a new character.
And you, what do you think of the return of Valve on the market? You are among those who have been clamoring for many years Half Life 3 or have you not yet entered the saga? We also refer you to our special on the history of the revolutionary saga of Half Life.
