
Valve new-employee handbook (2012) [pdf] - dsco
https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/apps/valve/Valve_NewEmployeeHandbook.pdf
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DizzyDoo
A very good bit of marketing from Valve, I remember reading this when it was
originally leaked (or 'leaked', depending on how cynical you want to be) and
being quite impressed with what seemed like a developer paradise. Because in
the writing it _does_ sound like a wonderful company, but the fairly recent
reporting on internal politics and power struggles at Valve
([https://www.pcgamer.com/ex-valve-employee-describes-
ruthless...](https://www.pcgamer.com/ex-valve-employee-describes-ruthless-
industry-politics/)) raise questions about how much the handbook truly
represents what goes on, since the time period that Rich Geldreich talks about
is from before this version of the handbook. (Previous HN discussion on that
article is also very worth reading:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17584563](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17584563))

~~~
SXX
It's still important to note that even with all disadvantages and problems
listed Rich think that flat structure is superior to usual hierarchical one.
PC Gamer article does mention it, but not to the degree you'll see on his
twitter.

[https://twitter.com/richgel999/status/1018729819243143173](https://twitter.com/richgel999/status/1018729819243143173)

PS: And yeah I strongly recommend to read whole post history since he's really
smart guy.

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jesseryoung
I remember reading this back when it was "leaked" onto the internet a number
of years back. I remember being blown away by the fact that they were running
an organization like this and actually succeeding and doing some amazing
innovation.

This was back in 2012, when it actually looked like they innovated. Now it
seems like their directionless. They still patch their old games adding one-
off features, but I don't know if I've really seen a roadmap from them in a
long time.

I could be completely wrong though, they aren't exactly a talkative company.

~~~
dx87
The big public thing they have coming up is a new online card game with a Dota
2 theme, it was initially booed when it was announced, but after they showed
gameplay and announced that the creator of Magic the Gathering is one of the
lead designers, it's getting glowing reviews from fans and proffesional
players in other card games.

The only behind the scenes thing I've seen is a lot of work on VR, such as
pressure sensitive controllers that translate your grip strength into effects
in game, like crushing a small rock if you squeeze the controller hard enough.

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jbob2000
I would be hesitant to take this as a manifesto of how to run a company. Valve
was great 10 years ago, but they are now facing competition from GoG, Discord,
independent distribution, bigger gaming companies, mobile gaming, etc.

> How does Valve decide what to work on?

> The same way we make other decisions: by waiting for someone to decide that
> it’s the right thing to do, and then letting them recruit other people to
> work on it with them.

Is this why Valve hasn't released anything but mediocre hardware and steam
updates? Where's the vision? What are they actually trying to do as a company?
Are they just a place where people come and go and do whatever they want?

Don't get me wrong, I do most of my gaming through Steam. But I don't play
Valve games. And I sometimes chat on steam, but mostly Discord. And my
favorite games, Factorio and Rimworld, can all be purchased independently
(minus Steam's cut I might add!). With cloud computing in full swing, indie
developers don't need a store to distribute with.

~~~
cloakandswagger
I suspect there is quite a bit of turmoil inside the walls of Valve right now
due to a series of large, failed bets that will eventually threaten their
cash-cow platform.

> Steam controller/Steam Link

Huge flop. These are being practically given away now as Valve looks to get
rid of their excess inventory. This being hardware, it had to be an expensive
venture that failed to penetrate the living room.

> Steam machines

Another stinker, though Valve was able to successfully offload most of the
risk onto OEMs with this one. Opportunity cost still bites.

> VR

I commend Valve for putting all their chips in on this, but it looks like the
VR industry had yet another cold start. This will go down as an almost total
loss.

All the while Valve has been neglecting game development which, while
admittedly much more expensive and less rewarding than running a sales
platform, ensures that there's a sufficient amount of first party titles to
keep users on Steam.

With the advent of Fortnite and competing platforms from other triple-A
studios, it's not so farfetched to imagine a complete fracturing of the games
platform market over the next 5-10 years. Valve needs a return-to-roots moment
to prevent this from happening

~~~
lightbyte
>Huge flop. These are being practically given away now as Valve looks to get
rid of their excess inventory. This being hardware, it had to be an expensive
venture that failed to penetrate the living room.

Was the steam link really a huge flop? That's sad, I absolutely love mine.
It's probably one of the best purchases I've ever made cost-to-value wise.

~~~
r_smart
I love mine too, and use it all the time, but I got it from a friend who
bought a game that bundled the steam link for like $1 or something. No way
they're doing anything other than trying to offload :(

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hesdeadjim
I think this is an appropriate counterpoint from a former employee:

[https://www.reddit.com/r/valve/comments/8zmp07/former_valve_...](https://www.reddit.com/r/valve/comments/8zmp07/former_valve_employee_tweets_his_experience_at/)

~~~
Kagerjay
That was quite a long rollercoaster read. I had heard about the exvalve
employees twitter but this is nicely formatted in one reddit post

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grenoire
Very fine difference between new-employee handbook and new employee-handbook.
I assumed the latter, knowing that it's from 2012...

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ma2rten
Also when you click on the link it says "handbook for new employees".

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ihuman
Can this get a [2012] in the title?

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zerr
Oh, they use stack ranking (page 27).

