Valve Corporation, the gaming industry giant behind Steam and popular titles like Half-Life, operates with a surprisingly small workforce while offering substantial compensation, according to leaked payroll data. The company employed just 336 staff members in 2021, despite its enormous influence in the gaming world.

The data, inadvertently revealed in a redacted document from Wolfire’s antitrust lawsuit against Valve, shows that the company’s workforce has remained relatively small since 2003. This lean approach contrasts sharply with industry peers like EA and Riot Games, which employ thousands.

Steam’s Secret: 79 employees power a gaming goliath
Valve’s Steam division, responsible for running one of the world’s largest PC gaming platforms, operated with only 79 employees in 2021. This small team manages a platform that serves millions of users worldwide, showcasing remarkable efficiency. The company’s game development team, despite being its largest department, consisted of just 181 staff members.

The leaked information also hints at Valve’s generous compensation strategy. In 2021, the company’s total gross pay for its game development team was $192 million, averaging over $1 million per employee in that department.

Valve’s per-employee profitability
This high-pay, low-headcount approach aligns with statements in Valve’s employee handbook, which claims the company’s profitability per employee exceeds that of tech giants like Google, Amazon, and Microsoft.

Industry analysts suggest this strategy allows Valve to maintain agility and efficiency while attracting top talent. However, it may also explain the company’s limited product output and its reliance on partnerships for hardware development.

From software to hardware: Valve’s evolving focus
The data also reveals interesting trends in Valve’s focus areas. While game development remains the largest department, the company has gradually increased its investment in hardware, with 41 employees dedicated to this area in 2021.