Valve

Valve runs a two-sided gaming ecosystem. On one side, it attracts consumers through a digital storefront, launcher, community features, and well-known first-party games. On the other, it provides developers and publishers with distribution access, platform APIs, release management, and monetisation tools through Steamworks. Value is created by concentrating player demand and developer supply in one ecosystem, then monetising the resulting transactions and engagement.

Valve is a privately held US video game company that combines first-party game development with ownership of Steam, a large PC game distribution and community platform. Its business spans consumer game sales, in-game transactions, and platform infrastructure for third-party developers and publishers through Steamworks. In practice, Valve operates both as a platform operator and as a creator and publisher of original game IP.

The company makes money primarily by taking a percentage of transactions conducted through Steam, alongside direct revenue from its own game portfolio and in-game purchases. Its customers therefore include consumers buying and playing PC games, as well as game developers and publishers using Steam’s distribution, publishing, and integration tools to reach that audience.