# List of Valve games
Valve games are the video games developed or published by [Valve Corporation](https://www.edgepedia.org/valve-corporation), the [Bellevue, Washington](https://www.edgepedia.org/bellevue-washington) studio founded around its 1998 debut title Half-Life and the Steam distribution platform. The catalog spans first-person shooters, puzzle games, multiplayer battle arena and card games, and virtual reality titles, with Valve's Steam developer page listing 28 games among its 55 published items.[1](https://store.steampowered.com/dev/valve?v1=1) A New York court filing identifies [Counter-Strike](https://www.edgepedia.org/counter-strike), Team Fortress, and Dota as Valve's three most popular franchises.[2](https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/27417060/new-york-v-valve.pdf?t=1772058351261)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Debut | Half-Life, released 1998; won more than 50 game of the year awards, and PC Gamer called it the Best PC Game Ever[3](https://www.valvesoftware.com/en/about) |
| Franchises | Half-Life, Counter-Strike, Team Fortress, Portal, Left 4 Dead, Day of Defeat, and Dota[4](https://half-life.fandom.com/wiki/Valve_Corporation) |
| Highest-rated | Portal 2, Metacritic 95 on PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360; Half-Life: Alyx scored 93[6](https://www.metacritic.com/company/valve-software/) |
| Bundle | The Orange Box (October 10, 2007) included Half-Life 2, Half-Life 2: Episode One, Half-Life 2: Episode Two, Team Fortress 2, and Portal[7](https://steam.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_games_developed_by_Valve_Corporation) |
| Newest title | Deadlock, an invite-only MOBA that reached 262,145 concurrent players, above Team Fortress 2's all-time peak of 253,997[8](https://www.pcgamer.com/games/moba/deadlock-surpasses-team-fortress-2s-all-time-concurrent-player-count-peak-as-it-adds-a-chess-wizard/) |
| Platform | Valve created Steam in 2003 as a digital distribution channel, now the delivery platform for its games[3](https://www.valvesoftware.com/en/about) |
## Half-Life series
Half-Life, Valve's first game, released in November 1998 in North America,[9](https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/games/company/13291-valve-software) is a first-person shooter praised for presenting its story through gameplay rather than cutscenes; GameSpot's review noted that its puzzles always seemed plausible within the world Valve created.[10](https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/half-life-review/1900-2537398/) Designer Marc Laidlaw has described how the story had to give voice to a team of level designers who had never worked together before while keeping a common goal in mind.[11](https://www.gamesradar.com/games/fps/there-was-an-arrogant-assumption-that-players-of-shooters-didnt-want-and-wouldnt-care-about-a-story-we-just-didnt-believe-this-go-behind-the-scenes-of-half-life-with-legendary-valve-designer-marc-laidlaw/)
The series continued with [Half-Life 2](https://www.edgepedia.org/half-life-2) (2004), its episodic sequels [Half-Life 2: Episode One](https://www.edgepedia.org/half-life-2-episode-one) (2006) and Episode Two (2007), and the VR title [Half-Life: Alyx](https://www.edgepedia.org/half-life-alyx) (March 23, 2020), which is set between the events of Half-Life and Half-Life 2 and casts the player as Alyx Vance fighting the Combine.[1](https://store.steampowered.com/dev/valve?v1=1) Expansion packs developed with outside studios, including Half-Life: Opposing Force and Half-Life: Blue Shift, appear in Valve's own Valve Complete Pack bundle.[12](https://store.steampowered.com/app/620/Portal_2/)
## Counter-Strike and Team Fortress
**Counter-Strike** began as a 1999 modification for Half-Life created by Minh "Gooseman" Le and Jess "Cliffe" Cliffe. Valve acquired the rights and published Counter-Strike 1.0 as a retail game in November 2000; the lineage runs through [Counter-Strike: Source](https://www.edgepedia.org/counter-strike-source) (2004), [Counter-Strike: Global Offensive](https://www.edgepedia.org/counter-strike-global-offensive) (2012, Metacritic 83 on PC), and [Counter-Strike 2](https://www.edgepedia.org/counter-strike-2) (September 27, 2023, Metacritic 82).[5](https://www.ghostcap.com/counter-strike-games) • [6](https://www.metacritic.com/company/valve-software/) The franchise consists of realistic multiplayer first-person shooters dividing players into terrorist and counter-terrorist teams.[2](https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/27417060/new-york-v-valve.pdf?t=1772058351261)
[Team Fortress Classic](https://www.edgepedia.org/team-fortress-classic) released in 1999, and [Team Fortress 2](https://www.edgepedia.org/team-fortress-2) shipped in 2007, first in [The Orange Box](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-orange-box) bundle.[7](https://steam.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_games_developed_by_Valve_Corporation) Team Fortress 2's all-time concurrent player count peak on Steam was 253,997.[8](https://www.pcgamer.com/games/moba/deadlock-surpasses-team-fortress-2s-all-time-concurrent-player-count-peak-as-it-adds-a-chess-wizard/)
## Portal and Left 4 Dead
Portal (2007) and [Portal 2](https://www.edgepedia.org/portal-2) (April 18, 2011) are first-person physics puzzle games set in the Aperture Science Labs. Portal 2 adds a two-player cooperative campaign with its own separate story and characters, and its editing tools support community-made puzzles through the Perpetual Testing Initiative; it holds a Metacritic score of 95 and 98% positive Steam reviews from 174,472 users.[12](https://store.steampowered.com/app/620/Portal_2/) The original Portal was named 2007's Game of the Year by over 30 publications.[12](https://store.steampowered.com/app/620/Portal_2/)
[Left 4 Dead](https://www.edgepedia.org/left-4-dead) (November 17, 2008) and [Left 4 Dead 2](https://www.edgepedia.org/left-4-dead-2) (November 16, 2009) are cooperative zombie shooters, each scoring 89 on Metacritic for PC.[6](https://www.metacritic.com/company/valve-software/) Alien Swarm, a free co-operative multiplayer game released with its complete code base, followed on July 19, 2010.[6](https://www.metacritic.com/company/valve-software/) • [1](https://store.steampowered.com/dev/valve?v1=1)
## Dota 2 and other multiplayer titles
Dota 2, released July 9, 2013, is a free-to-play multiplayer online battle arena in which millions of players compete as one of over a hundred heroes; all heroes are free, with revenue from cosmetics. It is described on its store page as the most-played game on Steam and holds a Metacritic score of 90.[13](https://store.steampowered.com/app/570/Dota_2/)
Valve's other multiplayer and experimental releases include Artifact (November 28, 2018), a Dota trading card game later split into Artifact Classic and Artifact Foundry; Dota Underlords (June 20, 2019), a free-to-play strategy battler with crossplay on PC and mobile; and The Lab (April 5, 2016), a free compilation of room-scale VR experiments set in a pocket universe within Aperture Science.[1](https://store.steampowered.com/dev/valve?v1=1) Aperture Desk Job (March 1, 2022) is a free playable short made for the Steam Deck, set in the Portal universe.[1](https://store.steampowered.com/dev/valve?v1=1)
## Deadlock and current development
Deadlock is Valve's newest game, a MOBA in closed, invite-only development. Its concurrent player count reached 262,145, passing Team Fortress 2's all-time peak of 253,997, as the game added the latest of six new heroes released by community vote.[8](https://www.pcgamer.com/games/moba/deadlock-surpasses-team-fortress-2s-all-time-concurrent-player-count-peak-as-it-adds-a-chess-wizard/) Valve has stated that Deadlock is still too unfinished to release publicly, and that hero cosmetics and new game modes are in the works; the Old Gods, New Blood update earlier in the year brought six new heroes and extensive visual overhauls.[14](https://www.pcgamer.com/games/moba/valve-says-deadlock-is-still-too-unfinished-to-release-publicly-but-has-hero-cosmetics-and-new-game-modes-in-the-works/) The first Ranked season's end was pushed back to November 5, 2026.[15](https://steamcommunity.com/app/1422450/allnews/)
## Reception
Critics have rated Valve's catalog consistently high. On Metacritic, Portal 2 and the Portal: Companion Collection hold 95, Half-Life: Alyx 93, Dota 2 90, and Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2 89 each on PC.[6](https://www.metacritic.com/company/valve-software/) The VideoGamesCritic gives Valve a developer rating of 83, with Portal 2 (94), Half-Life: Alyx (93), and Counter-Strike (92) its top PC titles.[16](https://videogamescritic.com/studio/valve?platform=pc&sort=alltime) Time magazine named Portal 2 one of the ten best video games of the 2010s, noting that in that decade Valve mostly iterated on Dota 2 and released the Vive headset with HTC.[17](https://time.com/5752663/best-video-games-2010s-decade/)
## References
1. [Steam Developer: Valve, Valve Corporation](https://store.steampowered.com/dev/valve?v1=1)
2. [New York v. Valve, court filing on Valve's flagship franchises](https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/27417060/new-york-v-valve.pdf?t=1772058351261)
3. [About Us, Valve Corporation](https://www.valvesoftware.com/en/about)
4. [Valve Corporation, Half-Life Wiki (Fandom)](https://half-life.fandom.com/wiki/Valve_Corporation)
5. [All Counter-Strike Games in Order: Full Chronological List, GHOSTCAP](https://www.ghostcap.com/counter-strike-games)
6. [Valve Software, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/company/valve-software/)
7. [List of games developed by Valve Corporation, SteamWiki (Fandom)](https://steam.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_games_developed_by_Valve_Corporation)
8. [Deadlock surpasses Team Fortress 2's all-time concurrent player count peak, PC Gamer](https://www.pcgamer.com/games/moba/deadlock-surpasses-team-fortress-2s-all-time-concurrent-player-count-peak-as-it-adds-a-chess-wizard/)
9. [Game Companies: Valve Software, GameFAQs](https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/games/company/13291-valve-software)
10. [Half-Life Review, GameSpot](https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/half-life-review/1900-2537398/)
11. [Go behind the scenes of Half-Life with Marc Laidlaw, GamesRadar+](https://www.gamesradar.com/games/fps/there-was-an-arrogant-assumption-that-players-of-shooters-didnt-want-and-wouldnt-care-about-a-story-we-just-didnt-believe-this-go-behind-the-scenes-of-half-life-with-legendary-valve-designer-marc-laidlaw/)
12. [Portal 2 on Steam, Valve](https://store.steampowered.com/app/620/Portal_2/)
13. [Dota 2 on Steam, Valve](https://store.steampowered.com/app/570/Dota_2/)
14. [Valve says Deadlock is still too unfinished to release publicly, PC Gamer](https://www.pcgamer.com/games/moba/valve-says-deadlock-is-still-too-unfinished-to-release-publicly-but-has-hero-cosmetics-and-new-game-modes-in-the-works/)
15. [Steam Community: Deadlock news](https://steamcommunity.com/app/1422450/allnews/)
16. [Valve: developer rating 83, VideoGamesCritic](https://videogamescritic.com/studio/valve?platform=pc&sort=alltime)
17. [The 10 Best Video Games of the 2010s, Time](https://time.com/5752663/best-video-games-2010s-decade/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Sports, games, and recreation › Video games and digital play › Games and gameplay › Franchises and series*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license