Gaming IndustryWe learned just how small Valve really is this year, but also how good it is at raking in the cash: It’s making more money per employee than AppleWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
Gaming IndustryWe learned just how small Valve really is this year, but also how good it is at raking in the cash: It’s making more money per employee than AppleWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Valve software)
We in the PC gaming-o-sphere tend to view Valve as a behemoth. Its iron-fisted dominance of the space is unquestioned and unchallenged, and even the mightiest of videogame publishers sooner or later come to kiss the ring. But in terms of actual size, it’s not really so: One of the very interesting things we learned in 2024 is that Valve is, relatively speaking,actually pretty small.
Wolfire criticized this breakdown in its lawsuit, saying Valve “devotes a miniscule percentage of its revenue to maintaining and improving the Steam Store.” That criticism presumably isn’t just about Steam store functionality, but also its moderation policies, which have beenunder fire for yearsfor allowing hate groups and extremist content to flourish.
(Image credit: Steam)
Those calculations are based on 2018 numbers and so may be out of date, although Valve hasn’t grown significantly since then and it’s not as though Steam has suddenly stopped raking in money. Valve obviously isn’t earning the revenues of the other companies on the list, but in terms of raw efficiency, that’s huge. And, rather like how the low Steam headcount casts an unflattering light on its moderation problems, that kind of cash-crankin' might lead one to wonder whether Valve’s 30% cut on Steam sales (with reductions based on sales volume) is in fact behind the times, as Wolfire,Epic Games, andothersinsist. On the other hand, nothing succeeds like success, and Valve doing so much with so little suggests it has to be doing something right.
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2025 could be an interesting year for Valve: After years of slowly grinding through the process, Wolfire’s antitrust lawsuit against Valve wascertified as a class actionin November, meaning it now encompasses “all persons or entities” who have sold games on Steam since 2017. That same month, US Senator Mark Warner sent a letter to Valve boss Gabe Newell warning of “more intense scrutiny from the federal government” if it doesn’t crack down on extremist content on the platform.
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