Valve is known for operating with a surprisingly small workforce compared to many other major gaming companies, especially considering the size of Steam and the number of games and hardware products it supports. While hiring hundreds or even thousands of additional developers might sound like an obvious way to release games and updates faster, former Valve developer Chet Faliszek doesn’t think things work that simply.

Faliszek, who spent around 12 years at Valve and worked as a writer on games including Left 4 Dead, recently discussed why the company doesn’t simply hire significantly more people. He believes there is a point where increasing the size of a development team can actually make the process less efficient rather than speeding things up.

Left 4 Dead was a massive success despite its smaller team size

According to Faliszek, one of the biggest reasons games take a long time to develop isn’t necessarily a lack of people. Instead, problems such as indecision, changing direction, and having to redo previously completed work can consume significantly more development time. Adding hundreds of developers doesn’t automatically solve those problems and can potentially make communication and decision-making even more complicated.

Faliszek pointed to Left 4 Dead 2 as an example of what a relatively small team can accomplish. According to him, around 45 people worked on the game, and he doesn’t believe increasing that number to 450 would necessarily have resulted in a better product. “For Valve, there are enough good people out there that they could hire more good people,” he says – but it’s not necessary.

“We made Left 4 Dead 2 with 45 people. I don’t think it would have been a better game if we would have made it with 450 people.”

Chet Faliszek, former game writer at Valve

That’s not to say large development teams can’t produce great games. Faliszek acknowledged that certain massive projects, such as GTA 6, naturally require significantly larger teams because of their enormous scope. However, he doesn’t believe every game needs to be built using that approach.

Valve’s unusual company structure also plays a role. The company has historically operated without the same formal management hierarchy found at many large publishers. Faliszek believes dramatically expanding the workforce could cause unofficial management structures to develop on their own, potentially creating an unhealthy working environment.

Faliszek also believes smaller teams benefit from having developers communicating closely and working toward the same goal. As teams grow into the hundreds or thousands, keeping everyone aligned becomes significantly more difficult.

About the Author

Abdul Haddi

Abdul is a tech writer and Editor for PC Guide, specializing in all things tech, gaming, and hardware.