These days they'll let any chancer touch the Aegis of Champions, Dota 2's ultimate trophy.
Last week I flew up to the Pacific Northwest to check out Valve's new trading card game, Artifact, which you can read all about here. Before playing the game we got a chance to rap with Gabe Newell, hung out with legendary card designer Richard Garfield, and also took a tour of Valve's new Bellevue office.
Valve moved in last October, and told us that in of layout is focused on improved amenities and an open layout best-suited to Valve's multi-disciplinary teams, which it calls (only somewhat ominously) 'cabals'.What kind of amenities? Well, there's the Balloonicorn-themed play area for when kids come in, which is a weekly occurrence thanks to Valve's policy of hosting family lunches every Thursday. Personal trainers also visit the office to work with employees at their desks, which I sadly can't confirm are on wheels.
Some stuff to spot in the pictures: Look out for the hidden Companion Cube, long-standing marketing supremo Doug Lombardi, and Tom "The Betrayer" Marks, once of PC Gamer's parish but now plying his trade elsewhere. There's also a ton of sweet merch tied into Valve's back catalogue of games, a killer canteen, a streaming room which was used by the casters for the Artifact pro tournament we watched, and a crowbar-shaped trophy that dates back to when the original Half-Life shipped. Sierra didn't give Valve any kind of congratulatory award at the time, so Valve's Scott Lynch figured he'd make his own. The inscription reads: "For raising the bar on action game."
Sadly, I didn't get to see the laser testing area. But be assured, it exists.
