Surprised? I'm not. In a Kotaku report on that compiled surveys of how employees felt at major game development companies, an employee sounded off on Valve. Here's what they had to say:
Pros – good quality of life, and being surrounded by creative people. there are many reasons to work at valve. the standards are pretty high, but they push you and really make you strive for the newest, best thing. there is no formal management structure, and responsibility is given on a competence level or if one asks for it. there is lots of room to try new things, so you feel like you are learning all the time. i have been at valve for many years and found it to be extremely rewarding, both in a business sense and personal one.
Cons – very competitive internally (high standards).
Advice to Senior Management – more insight into what's happening at the company, future plans.
Yes, this was the most negative thing anybody said about Valve, and it was four years ago–though it's written by a current employee. He also thinks that Valve is "possibly the best game company to work for" and the company received an average rating of 5.0. That's "very satisfied."
We caught a glimpse of workplace conditions earlier in the year when the Valve Employee Handbook was released. The way Valve functions was so outside the norm, it caught widespread media attention. With good reason–hell, I'd want to work there. It sounds great.
The report details dozens of other companies, highly reccomended, albeit long reading.
