BACK FROM THE DEAD

ONE TEAM HAS RETAINED NOT ONLY ITS DISTINCT IDENTITY BUT A DEGREE OF WIDER RECOGNITION

One commonly accepted piece of games industry wisdom is that ideas are cheap; everybody has them. It’s the execution that’s difficult and expensive. But it’s evidently not a philosophy shared by Valve, which has long bought its best ideas.

Counter-Strike, Portal, Team Fortress, —all were first dreamed up outside Valve by modders or students. Again and again, the studio has acted as a kind of incubator—hiring on creators and giving them resources and expertise, so that they can take those magic ideas to their big-budget conclusion.