Here is How A lot Valve Pays Its Workers — And How Few Folks It Hires

Valve is a notoriously secretive firm with an enormous affect on the gaming business, particularly as a result of it runs the huge PC video games retailer Steam. However regardless of that affect, Valve isn’t a large group similar to the 1000’s of staff at EA or Riot Video games: based on leaked information we’ve seen, Valve solely had 336 staff as of 2021.

The information have been included as a part of an in any other case closely redacted doc from Wolfire’s Antitrust Lawsuit In opposition to Valve. As has been famous from SteamDB creator Pavel DzhundikSome information within the doc was viewable regardless of the blacked-out redaction fields, together with Valve’s headcount and gross payroll throughout the corporate’s numerous divisions over 18 years, in addition to some information about its gross income that we have been unable to completely disclose.

Worker information begins in 2003, a number of years after Valve was based in 1996, and That very same 12 months, Valve launched Steamand continues by means of 2021. The information breaks down Valve staff into 4 completely different teams: Administration, Video games, Steam, and, since 2011, {Hardware}.

If you would like to investigate the numbers your self, I’ve included a full desk of the information, sorted by 12 months and class, on the finish of this text.

One fascinating tidbit within the information I discovered fascinating: Valve’s payroll spending within the Video games part peaked in 2017 at $221 million (the corporate did not launch any new video games that 12 months, however that spending may have gone towards supporting video games like Dota 2 and we develop new video games corresponding to Artifact); by 2021, that quantity had dropped to $192 million. One other one: As of 2021, Valve solely employed 79 individuals for Steam, which is without doubt one of the most influential sport shops on the planet.

“{Hardware},” to my shock, turned out to be a comparatively small a part of the corporate: in 2021, it had simply 41 staff, incomes over $17 million. However I am guessing Valve is now hiring extra hardware-focused individuals after The overwhelming success of Steam DeckIn November 2023, Valve’s Pierre-Loup Griffe mentioned Edge He believes that “we at the moment are firmly on observe to turning into a full-fledged tools manufacturing firm.”

The small variety of staff throughout the board most likely explains why Valve’s product record is so restricted regardless of its enormous enterprise because the de facto PC gaming platform. It needed to ask for assist {Hardware} And software program and labored with different firms to create Steam bins And controllers. (Firm flat construction perhaps that is additionally someway associated.)

Valve’s small workforce has additionally been a sticking level for Wolfire. When the corporate filed its lawsuit in 2021, Wolfire alleged that Valve “…devotes a tiny proportion of its income to sustaining and enhancing the Steam retailer.” Valve, as a personal firm, is just not required to reveal its headcount or financials, however Wolfire estimated that Valve had about 360 staff (a determine doubtless taken from Valve itself in 2016) and revenue per worker was about $15 million per 12 months.

Even when that $15 million determine is not totally correct, Valve, in its civil servant’s handbooksays “our profitability per worker is larger than Google, Amazon or Microsoft.” A doc in Wolfire’s lawsuit confirmed Valve staff focus on how a lot larger – though the particular variety of Valve staff is redacted.

Whereas we have not seen any leaked income figures primarily based on these new headcount and wage information, the numbers do present a extra detailed image of how a lot Valve spends on its workers – which, given Steam’s large recognition, is probably going nonetheless solely a fraction of the cash the corporate makes.

Valve didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark. After we reached out, the courtroom eliminated the doc from the file.

Sean Hollister contributed to this report.