Valve games list, by franchise
Valve does not ship many games, but the ones it ships tend to define their genres. This is the full list of Valve-developed games grouped by franchise, with release years, so you can see how the studio's catalog fits together. If you want to know how many hours you have personally sunk into these, our Steam stats tool pulls your own playtime per game.
A quick note on Counter-Strike: it began life as a fan mod for Half-Life, and Valve hired the creators and brought the series in-house. That is why it counts as a Valve franchise even though it did not start inside the company.
Half-Life
The series that put Valve on the map. A first-person shooter built around physics, scripted set pieces, and a silent protagonist named Gordon Freeman.
- Half-Life (1998)
- Half-Life: Opposing Force (1999, developed by Gearbox under Valve)
- Half-Life: Blue Shift (2001)
- Half-Life 2 (2004)
- Half-Life 2: Episode One (2006)
- Half-Life 2: Episode Two (2007)
- Half-Life: Alyx (2020), a full VR entry set before Half-Life 2
There is still no Half-Life 3. For a deeper look at the series, see what Half-Life is.
Portal
Physics puzzle games built in the Half-Life universe, known for the portal gun, GLaDOS, and some of the sharpest writing in gaming.
- Portal (2007)
- Portal 2 (2011)
Counter-Strike
The competitive shooter that has quietly been one of the most played games on PC for two decades.
- Counter-Strike (2000)
- Counter-Strike: Condition Zero (2004)
- Counter-Strike: Source (2004)
- Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (2012)
- Counter-Strike 2 (2023)
Counter-Strike 2 replaced CS:GO outright in September 2023 as a free upgrade on the same store page, and it is free to play. Read more in what Counter-Strike 2 is. If you hold skins, our CS2 inventory value tool prices them for you.
Team Fortress
Class-based multiplayer shooters with a cartoon art style and a heavy focus on cosmetics and community servers.
- Team Fortress Classic (1999)
- Team Fortress 2 (2007)
TF2 is still running years later and is free to play. Our breakdown of the TF2 classes covers all nine.
Left 4 Dead
Co-op survival against hordes of zombies, built around an AI "Director" that paces each run differently.
- Left 4 Dead (2008)
- Left 4 Dead 2 (2009)
Day of Defeat
World War 2 team shooters, another series that started as a Half-Life mod before Valve brought it in.
- Day of Defeat (2003)
- Day of Defeat: Source (2005)
Dota
Valve's move into the multiplayer online battle arena genre, again rooted in a community mod (the original Defense of the Ancients for Warcraft 3).
- Dota 2 (2013)
Dota 2 is free to play and home to The International, one of esports' biggest prize pools. See what Dota 2 is for the full picture.
Artifact
Valve's digital collectible card game set in the Dota universe.
- Artifact (2018)
Artifact launched to a rough reception and a shrinking player base. Valve later released a free "2.0" rework as a beta before winding the project down. It stands as one of the studio's rare misses.
Deadlock
Valve's newest game, a hero shooter that mixes third-person gunplay with MOBA-style lanes and abilities.
- Deadlock (2024, playtest era)
Deadlock spent a long stretch in an invite-only playtest before opening more widely. Its status keeps shifting, so check the store for the current state. We track it on our Deadlock page.
Other Valve titles
A few smaller or experimental releases round out the catalog.
- Ricochet (2000), a quirky arena game bundled with early Half-Life.
- Deathmatch Classic (2001).
- Alien Swarm (2010), a free top-down co-op shooter.
- The Lab (2016), a free collection of VR experiments.
- Dota Underlords (2019), an auto-battler spun out of a Dota 2 mode.
- Aperture Desk Job (2022), a free short built to show off the Steam Deck.
Why Valve ships so few games
For a studio this influential, the output is small. That is by design. Valve is private and self-funded, with no publisher forcing an annual release, so it can spend years on a project or shelve one entirely without answering to shareholders. The flat, no-managers structure means teams form around ideas people actually want to build, which produces both long gaps and the occasional swing that misses, like Artifact. When Valve does ship, it tends to ship something that moves a genre, which is why a catalog this short casts such a long shadow.
FAQ
How many games has Valve made? It depends on how you count spin-offs and free experiments, but the core catalog runs to roughly two dozen titles across around eight franchises. The headline series are Half-Life, Portal, Counter-Strike, Team Fortress, Left 4 Dead, Day of Defeat, Dota, and Deadlock.
What was Valve's first game? Half-Life, released in 1998. It was the studio's debut and an immediate hit that reshaped first-person shooters.
Which Valve games are free to play? Counter-Strike 2, Team Fortress 2, and Dota 2 are all free. Several smaller titles like Alien Swarm, The Lab, and Aperture Desk Job are free as well.
Did Valve make Counter-Strike from scratch? No. Counter-Strike started as a Half-Life mod made by fans. Valve hired the creators and turned it into an official series, which is why the early games share Half-Life's engine.
What is the newest Valve game? Deadlock, a hero shooter that entered a public playtest in 2024. Its release status is still in flux, so check the Steam store for where it stands now.