I won't be so sure about that. Nothing is certain in this world. Anything that goes up, can and will come down. It's just the matter of time.

Valve more profitable per head than Google or Apple

SOS 2011

Valve's digital distribution platform, Steam, is said to control between 50 and 70 per cent of the entire downloadable PC games market, which has been valued at $4 billion USD, according to reports.

Speaking to Forbes as part of a company profile, Newell said that Valve was 'tremendously profitable', though he wouldn't offer specific figures. As a private company, Valve doesn't release financial reports publicly either.

However, Newell did reveal that Valve's 200 per cent year-on-year growth and relatively small headcount of 250 employees made the company more profitable per employee than either Google or Apple.

Forbes claims various sources have valued Valve at between $2 billion and $4 billion USD, with an estimated 2010 revenue in the 'high hundreds of millions'. An earlier story from 2005 has Valve grossing $70 million, with a $55 million profit.

Of course, if you think that's impressive then you should check out the lifetime sales for the original Half-Life.

Steam's success if attributed mainly to the convenience it offers players, as well as the competitive pricing for publishers. On Steam publishers earn a gross margin of 70 per cent, compared to the 30 per cent offered at retail stores.

Steam now has over 30 million active Steam account and sells over 1200 games, with six million unique players logging in every day.

Let us know your thoughts in the forums.

Hhhhrrrrrrrgggghhhhh.

My bro wants Blood Dragon.

You go out during dinner, the 2 year old playing iphone/ipad... u think they surfing the net? or playing game?

we are creating a generations of gamer...

Yes, a generations of gamers but if Valve doesn't move along with the technology or react fast enough, they can get left behind.

Or if Gaben leaves Valve, you have no idea how the next person in charge will lead the company. Nothing is certain. That's all I am saying.

Why is Valve doing this?
There are two main reasons that Valve is creating Pipeline. The first is that we are frequently asked questions by teenagers about the videogame industry. "What is it like to work on videogames? What should I study? What colleges are best for preparing me? How do I get a job in videogames?" Pipeline will be a place where those questions can be discussed. The second is that Valve is running an experiment. Traditionally Valve has been a very good place for very experienced videogame developers, and not so good at teaching people straight out of school (the reasons for this and the tradeoffs are covered in the Valve employee handbook). Pipeline is an experiment to see if we can take a group of high school students with minimal work experience and train them in the skills and methods necessary to be successful at a company like Valve.

What is the objective of the website itself?
We want to establish a connection to the world of teenagers that are asking many questions about getting into the gaming industry. We look to answer many of these questions and are willing to reach out to the community and give them the information they need.

Why Pipeline?
The name 'Pipeline' was chosen for its industrial connection with names like Valve and Steam, as well as its definition's notion of connection, direction, outreach, and supply. Valve is often asked questions such as "how do I get from where I am now to working at a professional level in a video game company like Valve?" Naturally, like a pipeline, the journey is long, but the goal of this project is to act as a direct feed of knowledge from Valve to the community in order to help equip individuals ith the skills necessary to achieve their goals of getting into the video game industry. We will supply information on a variety of different fields prompted by public demand. Information will come in the form of interviews with professionals and resources on this website, displaying the variety of ways that you can achieve your goals.

Sos Valve Pipeline

I read it somewhere before. It was said that steam will make all our games drm free.

meaning we will be able to download and play our games without steam..

edit: but one thing i can assure you... they wouldnt close shop as long as there are gamers around the world

Anything can happen... even Apple almost went out of business at one time..

If Steam is out of business... the only hope is someone acquire steam and make it alive...

who will acquire steam? maybe EA??

Anything can happen... even Apple almost went out of business at one time..

If Steam is out of business... the only hope is someone acquire steam and make it alive...

who will acquire steam? maybe EA??

Steam Origin. This name sounds mighty cool. Please EA, buy over Valve!!!   

You go out during dinner, the 2 year old playing iphone/ipad... u think they surfing the net? or playing game?

we are creating a generations of gamer...

I have extra..uplay version
U got any extra games?maybe we can exchange?

Yes, a generations of gamers but if Valve doesn't move along with the technology or react fast enough, they can get left behind.

Or if Gaben leaves Valve, you have no idea how the next person in charge will lead the company. Nothing is certain. That's all I am saying.

More like a generation of cow clickers.

Shudders.
Other than Civ V, i dont think i got anything else.
I think if Gabe leaves Valve, Valve might disappear overnight.

Steam Origin. This name sounds mighty cool. Please EA, buy over Valve!!!   

they'll grow... dont worry soon they'll be 12 & 13 and gaming

Hopefully and they dont spend rest of their lives with some cow clickers. 

Please dont, thats one of the most boring game i ever played.

what cow clicker u toking abt?

I meant games like Cookie CLicker that has almost zero gameplay while people still treat it like its a full game.

Maybe its just me but i never like cow clickers in general from Cookie Clicker to Farmville.

reminds me of godus.. the kickstarter cow clicker