Ex-Valve hardware chief offers an alternative view on life inside the Half-Life maker

[Administrator]

Valve, maker of Half-Life and the hugely popular Steam, has been praised for its famous flat structure that, as the story goes, means Gabe Newell isn't the boss of Valve because Valve has no bosses.
This structure, coupled with the 2012 leak of the Valve Handbook for New Employees, has helped create an almost mythical image of a company where projects emerge as if by magic and managers do not exist.
But a round of layoffs back in February 2013 raised eyebrows, and now, Valve's former hardware specialist Jeri Ellsworth, who was fired alongside the four staff who worked with her on augmented reality gaming tech, has discussed her time at the Seattle company, and in the process offered an insight into its inner workings that counters the established narrative.
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