According to the recent study by the International Game Developers Association (the IGDA), Valve has been declared the most desirable employer in the industry. The question put to the developers: “What developer/publisher would you most like to work for?” With Valve coming out at the top. Honestly, it’s no surprise, check out their handbook, it’s pretty sweet. Valve actually ranked so high, that people would rather work for Valve rather than their own company! Figures.
Valve is a colossal giant in the industry, with games like Half Life, Portal, and Team Fortress 2, working for them would be the perfect opportunity for anyone. The employees at Valve also don’t have bosses in the traditional sense but rather “an underlying layer of powerful management”, people get as much vacation time as they want, with Gabe Newell sometimes forcing paid vacation onto his employees. Valve could very much be considered the Google of the gaming world. Looking at some videos online touring their offices, we see TF2 turrets in the hallways, Half Life art smeared across the walls, it doesn’t look so much as a workplace, rather a gaming haven where people come to play!
The company is also privately owned. Once a company goes public, management needs to consider shareholder value. This summer can’t be just as good as last summer, it needs to be better, otherwise the share value drops, and the higher ups get into all sorts of trouble. The fact that Valve is privately owned means they aren’t subject to this stress, in the same way that other companies like Nintendo, Ubisoft, Sony etc., are.
The list of the most desirable companies to work at goes as follows:
- Valve.
- My own company.
- Activision Blizzard.
- BioWare.
- Ubisoft.
- Current employer.
- Nintendo.
- Naughty Dog.
- Double Fine.
- Bethesda Game Studios.
I wouldn’t be lying if I said I’d want to work at Valve. Their work ethic is brilliant, and the way the employees are treated is phenomenal.
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