1996-Gabe Newell and Mike Harrington leave Microsoft to
start “Valve” software. They hire
talented people that create video game mods better than the other companies
that own the games.
1998- “Half-Life” is released. It uses a real time story
sequence from the perspective of the protagonist, Gordon Freeman. The game wins
game of the year and continues to be the biggest selling game of all time.
1999-“Half-Life: Opposing Force” is released taking the
Half-Life game from the perspective of Corporal Adrian Shepard. Team Fortress
classic is released by fans using mods from Half-Life to creating a team versus
team game. It gets so popular that Valve hires the creators and buys the rights
to the game.
2000-“Counter Strike” is released by fans using Half-Life mods.
It is the most played Half-Life modification.
2001-“Half-Life: Blue Shift” is released taking the game’s
perspective of Barney Calhourn, a lowly security guard during Half-Life’s
events.
2003-“Day of Defeat” is released. It is a first person
shooter game, set in World War II.
2004-After a major hack that delays the release for an
entire year, “Half-Life 2” is released.
2005-“Half-Life 2 Lost Coast” is released as a show of
Valve’s gaming engine capabilities.
2006-“Half-Life episode 1” is released allowing gamers to
continue playing a sequel to Half-Life 2 in segments rather than waiting a few
years for a larger game.
2007-“The Orange Box” is released containing the games, “Half-Life
2”, “Episode 1” and “Half-Life episode 2”, “Portal” taking gamers to the same
world as Half-Life but this time solving tests with portals as test subject
Chell strives for a promised cake at the end. Finally, “Team Fortress 2” is
released as a witty sequel to “Team Fortress classic” that later included
downloadable hats and weapons for the characters.
2008-“Left 4 Dead” is released taking place in an
apocalyptic world where a disease has transformed most of the human population into
zombies, as gamers take control of four survivors making their way to a safe
haven in a cooperative/versus game.
2009-“Left 4 Dead 2” is released. The game causes an uproar
and results in a boycott as it takes place in a completely different setting
with different characters than the first. Despite this, Left 4 Dead 2 got more
pre-orders than Left 4 Dead. Valve releases DLC’s shortly after the game’s
release to show what happens to the original Left 4 Dead survivors in Left 4
Dead 2.
2010-“Alien Swarm” is released taking players into the
future fighting against aliens for humanity’s survival.
2011-“Portal 2” is released taking players back to Chell and
Aperture Science for more tests and to think with portals once again. Only this
time, cake is never mentioned.
2012-“Defense of the Ancients 2” is released. It is a sequel
to the real-time strategy mod for “Warcraft III”. Gamers still wait for the
promised “Half-Life 2: Episode 3”.
