The Early Days of Valve from a Woman Inside | by Monica Harrington | Aug, 2024 | Medium
Fascinating read.
“I had another conversation with Microsoft execs about my role and the conflict with Valve, and again I was essentially told, “it’s fine, we’re OK, we like where you’re at, don’t worry.”
So. Wild. It was clear that Microsoft had something to do with Valve’s success but it actually was way more than I thought. And a bit sad how Valve did Windows 8 and its app store wrong while they’re indeed the de-facto game store. A bit of competition would have been great.
“All of this came from the collective Microsoft experience about working with OEMs and seeding product in mass quantities to spur user adoption.”
I often think about this experience with OEMs. That collaborative power where MS gets to stay at the top but works with everyone all the time? That’s huge, and that’s hard to maintain. But you get to learn, to change, to pivot and to stay on your toes I guess. Dictatorship is a lot easier.
“About a year earlier, I had worked with Gabe to set the audacious goal of Half-Life winning at least three of the top industry Game of the Year awards. We very consciously thought through what it would take, including breakthrough technology, a compelling new angle, and broad industry support. It was going to be especially tough for a game that some insiders initially dismissed as “Microsoft developers building on id’s technology.”
Planning works, folks. Visualizing is massive. I remember Half-Life, the Doom “mod” and how the game that shipped was really good and really different from anything at that time. That first grenade that lands at your feet, OMG. Iykyk
“I’m also proud of the work I did while recognizing that my biggest contributions to Valve’s business went largely unnoticed and unrecognized within the industry. Part of that was due to the bro culture of the software business, part of it was that I receded to support my husband in a partnership where he was effectively the lesser partner, and part of it was that women, especially in tech, often seem to disappear when the story gets told.”
This is always the reality, and a sad one. In the world of music for instance, it’s ridiculous the number of women who managed, cured, helped, protected and cared for dudes who would go on having superstar careers. And wouldn’t have had anything without those women.
TL;DR: collaboration works and women are dope and deserve more.