Michael Abrash writes about his time at Valve

[Blink]

In a very informative and lengthy article, Michael Abrash has written about his past experiences with id, Microsoft and now Valve. It's a great read:

That any part of the company can change direction instantly at any time, because there are no managers to cling to their people and their territory, no reorgs to plan, no budgets to work around. That there are things that Gabe badly wants the company to do that aren’t happening, because no one has signed up to do them.

Give the full article a read.

[Gary]

Now I see why the SDK was broken.


Anyways, good read. I enjoy learning about Valve's inner workings.

[Hollow]

I knew about their non-hierarchy system, but wow. That's so alien in comparison to pretty much any studio out there. I can sort of see how it can work though. You constantly spark new ideas off people around you, not necessarily related to the project, and I guess Valve just let's their employees fully realise those ideas without hampering their creativity in a set framework. Mind-boggling.

[Mr. Happy]

@Gary Indeed, I eat up anything those guys and gals do. They've been a bit lite on the press/blogs/interviews lately, and now this a nice big chunk of knowledge.

@Gary I'm not sure I see the leap you made in that first sentence?

@Hollow it kind of makes sense in a lot of ways though, doesn't it? It seems if they make things that they want, and if they are people that guarantees other people will want them, and if they don't want to make something, that helps cull the low-end.

I worry a little bit about wearable computing, MBI, and the consequences.

[Jangalomph]

I'll work at valve one day.

[SotaPoika]

I'll work at valve one day.

Indeed it would be really nice to work at Valve, I bet quite many Source-engine modders have that in their minds.

[Jangalomph]

You guys just watch

[dark0r]

I'll work at valve one day.

You know a company's absolutely spectacular when you have people absolutely dying to work there... it's literally my life goal.

I don't care about the pay. I don't care about the benefits. I just want to work at Valve, doing work I love alongside people who share the same ideas.

[Jordash]

I think Gary meant the SDK is never updated because they can choose to do literally anything else instead.

Valve should just hire everyone on Interlopers, it's easier that way

[Jangalomph]

I think Gary meant the SDK is never updated because they can choose to do literally anything else instead.

Valve should just hire everyone on Interlopers, it's easier that way

Doing this would probably be a very wise move.

[Chrille]

I would make a perfect janitor.

[ScarT]

You know a company's absolutely spectacular when you have people absolutely dying to work there... it's literally my life goal.

I don't care about the pay. I don't care about the benefits. I just want to work at Valve, doing work I love alongside people who share the same ideas.

See you there, future colleague !

Interesting read. I hope to see more blogs from developers, would be awesome to read.

[nub]

My god...it's like the perfect place to work. Anyone else feel like Aperture Science is loosely based on Valve now?

(a future post here will discuss in some detail what Valve looks for in people when it hires

I'm totally reading that when he posts it.

[Mr. Happy]

He called DOTA2 DotA2.

Valve should just hire everyone on Interlopers, it's easier that way

iValve lol

[kkirspel]

@Happy, well the original was 'DotA' aka 'Defense of the Ancients' so...

And I'd just love to simply have the skill/talent/creativity level of Valve employees. And if they'd have me, I'd be more than willing to join the team.