Valve Corporation, commonly known as Valve, is a prominent American video game developer, publisher, and digital distribution company. Founded in 1996 by Gabe Newell and Mike Harrington, the company is based in Bellevue, Washington. Valve is highly regarded for its development of critically acclaimed games such as "Half-Life," "Portal," and "Team Fortress." Additionally, Valve is the creator of the Source game engine and maintains a significant presence in PC gaming through Steam, an extensive digital distribution platform that offers thousands of games and serves as a hub for game developers and gamers alike.Beyond game development and distribution, Valve has also ventured into hardware, developing technologies like the Steam Controller, the VR system known as the HTC Vive in partnership with HTC, and more recently, the portable PC gaming device called the Steam Deck. Valve\'s innovations extend to software solutions and services, including SteamOS, a Linux-based operating system tailored for gaming.