Valve, the developer behind games like Dota 2 and Counter Strike: Global Offensive have just dropped thirteen employees along with an undisclosed number of contractors. Most of the workers were involved with Valve’s VR hardware department.
In a statement sent to Upload VR, Valve said that “last month, 13 full-time employees were let go and a portion of our contractor agreements were terminated.” The statement continued by saying that the layoffs are an “unfortunate part of business, but does not represent any major changes at the company. We thank those affected for their contribution and wish them well in future endeavours.”
Some of these workers included prominent external GPU developer Nat Brown and Rob Rydberg, a VR systems architect. Both employees left the company in February.
Late last year, images leaked of what looked like a Valve-made VR headset, complete with Valve logo on the circuit board. Rumours started circulating about what the headset could mean, with sources saying that the product would start shipping at some point in early 2019, along with a Half Life prequel game. The headset would accompany Valve’s already released “Knuckles” VR controllers.
Even though Valve seemingly let go a significant chunk of its VR team, the company has assured fans that the absences won’t spell any major changes. The layoffs aren’t even close to rivalling the ongoing situation at Activision Blizzard though, so that’s a positive.
