Market data firm claims Valve made $730 million last year

Dota 2

It won't surprise anybody to learn that, between Steam and a trio of popular online games, Valve is making a lot of money. But how much? Is the Washington-based company, for instance, Scrooge-McDuck-swimming-pool-full-of-cash rich?

Market data firm SuperData claims that Valve made $730 million in 2014. The firm gave their estimates to The Know, and later reiterated them to Develop.

Their projections covered Steam and Valve's top three games: Dota 2, Team Fortress 2 and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. The three games were estimated to have brought in $400 million. Further, it was said that Steam took $1.5 billion in sales across 2014—with Valve's royalties from third-party sales calculated at around $330 million.

Valve, of course, have not released their own figures, and SuperData admit that their estimates are "conservative".

As for The Know's video—titled "Half-Life 3 Will Never Release, Here's Why"—many of its other claims have been called into question. Half-Life writer Marc Laidlaw even refuted The Know's suggestion that Valve were afraid to make Half-Life 3. "Fear is the last thing that would ever drive a decision about what to work on," he wrote in an email to a concerned fan.

Phil Savage
Editor-in-Chief

Phil has been writing for PC Gamer for nearly a decade, starting out as a freelance writer covering everything from free games to MMOs. He eventually joined full-time as a news writer, before moving to the magazine to review immersive sims, RPGs and Hitman games. Now he leads PC Gamer's UK team, but still sometimes finds the time to write about his ongoing obsessions with Destiny 2, GTA Online and Apex Legends. When he's not levelling up battle passes, he's checking out the latest tactics game or dipping back into Guild Wars 2. He's largely responsible for the whole Tub Geralt thing, but still isn't sorry.