Valve's Staffing Numbers Revealed
Recent documents released as part of Wolfire’s lawsuit against Valve have shed light on the staffing numbers at the PC games giant. Despite Steam being a major pillar of Valve’s business, it appears that only 79 staff members were working on the platform in 2021, compared to other departments such as hardware, game development, and ‘admin’.
Interestingly, between 2015 and 2021, the number of staff working on Steam has nearly halved, with 142 employees dedicated to the platform back in 2015. Valve’s highest number of employees on record was in 2016, with 371 members of staff.
While some may find it surprising that Valve has a significant number of game developers on payroll, it is important to note that the company operates two of the biggest live-service titles in the world, Dota 2 and Counter-Strike. Additionally, Valve’s foray into virtual reality with
Valve’s increasing interest in hardware is also evident, with the number of employees in this division rising from 14 in 2012 to 47 at its peak. Despite the relatively small number of staff dedicated to Steam, the platform continues to be a major revenue generator for Valve.
