Valve

Valve is an entertainment software and technology company founded in 1996 and based in Bellevue, Washington. The company’s debut title, Half-Life®, has won over 50 Game of the Year Awards and was named "Best PC Game Ever" in the November 1999, October 2001, and April 2005 issues of PC Gamer, the world's best-selling PC games magazine.

Valve's portfolio of entertainment titles also includes Half-Life® 2, Counter-Strike®, Day of Defeat®, Team Fortress®, and Portal™. This portfolio of titles accounts for over 20 million retail units sold worldwide, and Valve games account for over 80% of the PC online action market.

In addition to producing best selling entertainment titles, Valve is a developer of leading-edge technologies including the Source® game engine and Steam®, a leading platform for digital content with over 10 million registered users.

Today, Valve is composed of just over 120 of the industry's best artists, programmers, and writers. In the company's 10-year history, it has risen from "unlikely new entry" to industry leader, producing a string of best selling and critically acclaimed PC products and technologies.

Business

In addition to producing best-selling entertainment titles, Valve is a developer of leading-edge technologies such as the Source™ game engine and Steam™, a broadband platform for the delivery and management of digital content. We also provide gaming content to a network of CyberCafés around the world.

STEAM - THE ELECTRONIC DISTRIBUTION PLATFORM

The era of electronic distribution has arrived. Steam provides the ability to distribute games and other content directly to customers. Steam opens up new channels of distribution and allows for non-traditional product offerings while increasing profit margins to content creators. Publishing your game on Steam gives you access to the largest community of online gamers anywhere with over 5 million registered users.

Steam also provides integrated tools for publishing content directly to customers, flexible billing, ensured-version control, anti-cheating, anti-piracy, game-server browser functionality, an in-game instant messaging platform, and more. Many third-parties are already taking advantage of the benefits Steam offers. Contact Valve to discuss opportunities.

SOURCE ENGINE LICENSING

The Source™ engine and SDK, the same used to build and power Half-Life 2, is available for license by third party developers. Source provides major enhancements in several key areas including production tools, character animation, advanced AI, real-world physics, and shader-based rendering.

The Source engine and SDK is currently being used by one of the world's largest communities of developers. Valve continues development of the engine with ongoing technology updates and SDK releases. A variety of licensing options are available to meet your development needs. Contact Valve to discuss our very competitive licensing terms.

THE OFFICIAL CYBERCAFÉ PROGRAM

If you run a cybercafé or other gaming venue, Valve makes it easy for you to bring our games to your customers. The official cybercafé program is comprised of over 10,000 gaming venues and more are signing up every day. Valve's cybercafé program is the only legal way to use Valve games in your cybercafé or gaming center.