Editing Valve Corporation (section)

=== Transition to services (2010–2014) ===
[[File:Valve old logo.svg|thumb|right|Logo until 2018]]
In 2009, Valve hired [[IceFrog]], the developer of ''[[Defense of the Ancients]]'', a ''[[Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos|Warcraft III]]'' mod.<ref>{{cite web |author=Aerox |url=https://www.destructoid.com/valve-hires-dota-allstars-developer/ |title=Valve hires DotA: Allstars developer |date=October 5, 2009 |website=[[Destructoid]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211026221203/https://www.destructoid.com/valve-hires-dota-allstars-developer/ |archive-date=October 26, 2021}}</ref> IceFrog led the development of a sequel not associated with the ''Warcraft'' elements, ''[[Dota 2]]'', released in 2013.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Biessener|first=Adam|date=October 13, 2010|title=Valve's New Game Announced, Detailed: Dota 2|url=https://gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2010/10/13/dota-2-announced-details.aspx|url-status=live|magazine=[[Game Informer]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101016155010/http://gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2010/10/13/dota-2-announced-details.aspx|archive-date=October 16, 2010|access-date=October 8, 2012}}</ref> Alongside ''Dota 2'' in 2011, Valve started [[The International (Dota 2)|the International]], an annual [[eSport|esport]]s tournament for ''Dota 2'' with a prize pool supported by Valve and funds from microtransactions from [[battle pass]]es purchased by players.<ref name="Reilly">{{cite web|last=Reilly|first=Jim|date=August 1, 2011|title=Valve Goes Big with Dota 2 Tournament|url=http://www.ign.com/articles/2011/08/01/valve-goes-big-with-dota-2-tournament|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121109072431/http://www.ign.com/articles/2011/08/01/valve-goes-big-with-dota-2-tournament|archive-date=November 9, 2012|publisher=IGN}}</ref> Valve released ''[[Portal 2]]'' in April 2011.<ref name="vg247 early release">{{cite web |last=Hillier |first=Brenna |date=April 18, 2011 |title=No more potatoes: Portal 2 available right now on Steam |url=https://www.vg247.com/portal-2-available-now |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110420083833/http://www.vg247.com/2011/04/19/portal-2-available-now/ |archive-date=April 20, 2011 |access-date=May 1, 2022 |publisher=[[VG247]] |df=mdy-all}}</ref> As with the original ''Portal'', Valve employed a [[DigiPen Institute of Technology|Digipen]] student team to help develop it; the team behind ''[[Tag: The Power of Paint]]'' implemented the new gel gameplay.<ref>{{cite web |last=Remo |first=Chris |date=September 20, 2010 |title=Synthesizing Portal 2 |url=https://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/6141/synthesizing_portal_2.php |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120908060252/http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/6141/synthesizing_portal_2.php |archive-date=September 8, 2012 |access-date=May 1, 2022 |website=[[Game Developer (website)|Game Developer]] |df=mdy-all}}</ref>

The [[Screen Digest]] analyst Ed Barton estimated Valve's 2010 revenue to be in the "high hundreds of millions of dollars".<ref name="Levy-2016" /> As of 2011, Valve had an estimated worth of $2 to 4 billion and employed 250 people; according to Newell, this made it more profitable per employee than [[Google]] or [[Apple Inc.|Apple]]. Most of Valve's revenue came from Steam, which controlled 50 to 70% of the market for downloaded PC games in 2011.<ref name="Chiang-2011" />

By 2011, Valve had replaced episodic development with a platform-oriented approach, whereby games such as ''Left 4 Dead 2'' and ''Team Fortress 2'' were continually updated through Steam updates.<ref name="Crossley-2011" /> In June 2012, Valve hired the economist [[Yanis Varoufakis]] to study the online economies of their games.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2012-06-15 |title=Game maker Valve appoints in-house video games economist |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-18456171 |access-date=2024-11-19 |work=[[BBC News]] |language=en-GB}}</ref> That December, Valve acquired Star Filled Studios, a two-person studio, to open a San Francisco office.<ref>{{cite web |last=Hing |first=David |url=http://www.bit-tech.net/news/gaming/2012/12/17/vavle-acquires-or-hires-star-filled-studios/1 |title=Valve acquires or hires Star Filled Studios |work=bit-gamer.net |publisher=Bit-tech.net |date=December 17, 2012 |access-date=August 31, 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130714185817/http://www.bit-tech.net/news/gaming/2012/12/17/vavle-acquires-or-hires-star-filled-studios/1 |archive-date=July 14, 2013}}</ref> Valve closed the office in August 2013 when they decided it had little benefit.<ref>{{cite web |last=Reilly |first=Luke |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2013/08/08/valves-san-francisco-remote-office-shut-down |title=Valve's San Francisco Remote Office Shut Down |date=August 7, 2013 |website=IGN |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130902154851/http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/08/08/valves-san-francisco-remote-office-shut-down |archive-date=September 2, 2013}}</ref> At the 2013 [[D.I.C.E. Summit]], Newell announced that he and the film director [[J. J. Abrams]] were collaborating to produce a ''Half-Life'' or ''Portal'' film, as well as a possible game.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://lambdageneration.com/posts/j-j-abrams-collaborating-with-valve-on-possible-new-game-as-well-as-half-life-or-portal-feature-films/ |title=LambdaGeneration 2.0 – Coming Soon |date=February 6, 2013 |publisher=Lambda Generation |access-date=August 31, 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130501003800/http://lambdageneration.com/posts/j-j-abrams-collaborating-with-valve-on-possible-new-game-as-well-as-half-life-or-portal-feature-films/ |archive-date=May 1, 2013}}</ref>

In the 2010s, Valve released fewer games and invested in hardware development. Newell intended to make Valve more like [[Nintendo]], which develops games in tandem with hardware, allowing them to create innovative games such as ''[[Super Mario 64]]''.<ref name="Keighley-2020">{{Cite book |last=Keighley |first=Geoff |title=The Final Hours of Half-Life Alyx |date=2020 |publisher=Steam |author-link=Geoff Keighley}}</ref> Valve initially focused on [[augmented reality]], but in 2013 Newell laid off many staff to focus on [[virtual reality]] (VR).<ref name="Keighley-2020"/> In 2015, Valve released the [[Steam Machine (hardware platform)|Steam Machine]], a line of [[gaming computer]]s, which sold poorly.<ref name="Keighley-2020"/> Media commentators speculated that Valve's transition to service provider with Steam, which generated an estimated $3.4 billion in 2017, had driven it away from game development.<ref>{{cite web|last=Cooper|first=Ryan|date=June 4, 2019|title=How capitalism killed one of the best video game studios|url=https://theweek.com/articles/844962/how-capitalism-killed-best-video-game-studios|access-date=June 7, 2019|work=[[The Week]]|archive-date=June 7, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190607021550/https://theweek.com/articles/844962/how-capitalism-killed-best-video-game-studios|url-status=live}}</ref> 

Valve canceled games including [[Unreleased Half-Life games|numerous ''Half-Life'' projects]] (including ''[[Half-Life 2: Episode Three|Episode Three]]''), ''Left 4 Dead 3'', a [[Soulslike]] game, and a [[voxel]]-based game, ''A.R.T.I''. Additional VR projects included ''SimTrek'', developed by members of the ''[[Kerbal Space Program]]'' development team, and a new VR device, Vader, that was determined to be too costly for consumers.<ref>{{cite magazine | url = https://www.pcgamer.com/at-least-5-half-life-projects-were-cancelled-before-alyx-including-half-life-3/ | title = At least 5 Half-Life projects were cancelled before Alyx, including Half-Life 3 | first = Andy | last = Chalk | date = July 9, 2020 | access-date = July 9, 2020 | magazine = [[PC Gamer]] | archive-date = July 11, 2020 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200711074843/https://www.pcgamer.com/at-least-5-half-life-projects-were-cancelled-before-alyx-including-half-life-3/ | url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.ign.com/articles/half-life-3-left-4-dead-3-details-cancelled-valve | title = Details of Multiple Cancelled Valve Projects Revealed, Including Half-Life 3 | first = Joe | last = Skrebels | date = July 9, 2020 | access-date = July 9, 2020 | work = [[IGN]] | archive-date = July 13, 2020 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200713154054/https://www.ign.com/articles/half-life-3-left-4-dead-3-details-cancelled-valve | url-status = live }}</ref> According to the designer [[Robin Walker (game designer)|Robin Walker]], the abundance of projects that failed to gain traction, with no shared vision, damaged morale.<ref name="Keighley-2020" /> Many players grew frustrated in anticipation of a new ''Half-Life'' game.<ref>{{cite web |date=November 19, 2018 |title=Whatever happened to Half-Life 3? The complete saga so far |url=https://www.pcgamesn.com/half-life-3/half-life-3-release-date-story-gameplay-art |access-date=November 19, 2018 |work=[[PCGamesN]] |archive-date=October 21, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191021094127/https://www.pcgamesn.com/half-life-3/half-life-3-release-date-story-gameplay-art |url-status=live }}</ref>