The Early Days of Valve from a Woman Inside

🌈 Abstract

The article tells the story of Monica Harrington, who guided the marketing and business development efforts for Valve, the company that became the biggest player in the PC game industry. It covers the early days of Valve, its founding by Gabe Newell and Mike Harrington, Monica's involvement as Mike's wife, and the development and launch of Valve's first game, Half-Life.

🙋 Q&A

[01] Early Days of Valve

1. What was Monica Harrington's role in the early days of Valve?

• Monica Harrington was on a two-month leave from her job at Microsoft when her husband Mike Harrington and Gabe Newell decided to start Valve.
• Monica provided marketing and business development guidance to Valve in its early days, drawing on her experience at Microsoft.
• She helped Valve understand what it would take to be successful from a marketing and business standpoint, including strategies around PR, advertising, and working with the retail channel.

2. How did Valve secure its first publishing deal?

• Through Mike's connections in the industry, Valve was able to quickly secure an agreement to build its first product using id Software's game engine, which was a huge deal.
• Valve then signed a publishing agreement with Sierra Online, a major PC games publisher, after a meeting where Sierra's CEO Ken Williams essentially said "I want to work with you...let's make it happen."

3. What were some of the early challenges Valve faced?

• Valve's initial investment and the advance from Sierra were not enough to cover the actual cost of producing Half-Life, Valve's first game.
• There were tensions between the two co-founders, Gabe Newell and Mike Harrington, as Gabe became the major funder of the company.
• Valve faced the challenge of building a hit game, as the games industry was highly hit-driven at the time.

[02] The Development and Launch of Half-Life

1. How did Monica Harrington contribute to the development and launch of Half-Life?

• Monica wrote the marketing plan for launching Half-Life, with a focus on positioning it as a Game of the Year contender to earn the respect of industry influencers.
• She wrote backgrounders on Valve's technical innovations like AI, animation, and physics to share with the press.
• Monica worked to build buzz for Half-Life, including seeding a story with the Wall Street Journal to generate retailer interest.
• After Half-Life shipped, Monica worked on post-launch marketing strategies to amplify its success and ensure retailers were well-stocked.

2. What were some of the challenges Valve faced during Half-Life's development and launch?

• The initial version of Half-Life that Valve had developed was not meeting expectations, so the team had to essentially start over from scratch.
• There were tensions between Valve and its publisher Sierra, as Sierra wanted to pull marketing support for Half-Life after its initial launch.
• Valve was concerned about piracy and had to implement an authentication system that initially frustrated some customers.
• There was a lot of uncertainty and anxiety within the Valve team about whether Half-Life would be a success.

[03] Valve's Transition to a Self-Publishing Model

1. How did Valve transition away from its publishing deal with Sierra?

• Monica worked to renegotiate Valve's deal with Sierra, making it clear that Valve would pivot to a different game category if Sierra insisted on keeping the original unfavorable terms.
• She also worked to cap Valve's royalty payments to id Software for using their game engine, to improve Valve's profitability.
• Monica pitched an online entertainment platform idea to Amazon, which resulted in an investment offer that helped provide Valve with an alternative path forward.

2. What was the significance of Valve's customer registration system and the Team Fortress mod?

• Valve's customer registration system, which was implemented as part of the Half-Life authentication, gave Valve a direct pipeline to its customers, bypassing the publisher Sierra.
• The popularity of the Team Fortress mod, developed by Valve employees John Cook and Robin Walker, further built enthusiasm and a loyal customer base for Half-Life.

3. What was the outcome of Monica Harrington and Mike Harrington's involvement with Valve?

• After tensions between Gabe Newell and Mike Harrington, and with Valve's publishing deal with Sierra being unfavorable, Monica and Mike ultimately left Valve, though they remained vested in its success.
• Monica continued to provide guidance and support to Valve, but her contributions were not always recognized within the industry, in part due to the "bro culture" of the software business.