Anyone who believes that the studios of Valve, the company behind Steam, are strictly secret is mistaken. Just a while ago, you could easily book a tour there – as long as you knew where to ask.
Were visits to Valve possible? It may sound unrealistic, but yes: there was a way to visit the studios of Valve. You didn’t have to be a developer or a celebrity; it was enough to show interest and write a simple email.
This way, over the years, many fans were able to get a glimpse behind the scenes. Unfortunately, that came to an end some time ago. COVID-19 was to blame.
Valve was also responsible for the zombie classic Left 4 Dead 2 – here you can see the trailer:
Visiting a legendary studio
How did one gain access to Valve? It was an open secret that you simply had to send an email to [email protected] expressing your interest in a visit.
In this way, some fans were able to enter the studio and look around. One user, MasterOfThePoems, provides a report on Imgur. He not only shares his impressions but also posts photos with the community.
The photos show the hallways of the studio, as well as cabinets full of weapon replicas and a turret. However, it was forbidden to take pictures of computer screens.
Is that still possible? Since the COVID-19 pandemic, it has no longer been possible to visit the studio. At the beginning of the pandemic, the reasons were clear: they wanted to protect employees from a COVID infection.
Now that the pandemic has come to an end, many are wondering whether visits will resume. In response to a user’s inquiry on Reddit, the company replied that they have not yet started allowing visits again.
A guest at Valve today is a true celebrity in gaming: Geoff Keighley, known as the organizer of gaming events like the Game Awards, visited Valve as a fan when he was still a student. This was at a time when Half-Life 1 was just being completed. In a video on YouTube, he raves about his impressions.
He was able to spend a lot of time with Gabe Newell and was even invited by the Valve boss to dinner. They had sushi, which posed challenges for Geoff Keighley because he was not good at eating with chopsticks.
Whether Valve will allow studio visits again in the near future is unknown. However, it is said on Reddit that you can still try to send an email. Maybe someone will get lucky after all. Fans of Valve and Steam may have already wondered about Gabe Newell’s gaming preferences: What does the most important man at Steam play?
