[{"ID":"31634846-20ce-4d96-a21c-a7fdeddefcbd","FirstName":"Gabe","LastName":"Newell","Description":"Gabe held a number of positions in the Systems, Applications, and Advanced Technology divisions during his 13 years at Microsoft. His responsibilities included running program management for the first two releases of Windows, starting the company's multimedia division, and leading efforts on the Information Highway PC. Then he started Valve. His most significant contribution to Half-Life, the company’s debut title, was his statement: \"C'mon, people, you can't show the player a really big bomb and not let them blow it up.\"","SteamID":null,"Alias":"Lord GabeN, our true God!!","Sex":1},{"ID":"f48143df-d26d-4fc0-af70-f56df8367212","FirstName":"Icefrog","LastName":null,"Description":"IceFrog is a game designer, known for being the longest-serving and current developer of the Warcraft III custom map Defense of the Ancients. He is currently employed by Valve Corporation as the lead designer for Dota 2, the stand-alone sequel to the original scenario.","SteamID":"","Alias":"IceFrog","Sex":1},{"ID":"b59b7d5e-9fd0-4a99-a54e-2649850eceb3","FirstName":"Jeff","LastName":"Ballinger","Description":"Jeff's projects include Half-Life 2, Lost-Coast, Day of Defeat. Team Fortress 2, Left 4 Dead 2, and DotA 2. He is responsible for concepts, world textures, prototyping levels, architectural studies, and model making. In addition to working on world environments you can find him sketching, modeling, and learning new art techniques.","SteamID":null,"Alias":null,"Sex":1},{"ID":"8a9115e3-60e3-4ca8-bf3e-48902603cead","FirstName":"Ted","LastName":"Kosmatka","Description":"Ted was 12 when he set out to write for a living. This mostly involved a lot of rejection letters, an unfinished biology degree, and eventually a job as a steel worker like his father and grandfather. After the steel mill went bankrupt Ted took various lab jobs where friendships were formed and fire departments called. Eventually, he finished a degree and worked in a research lab with electron microscopes, writing on the side. Then came the obvious next step: ditching it all to write video games. Since joining Valve in 2010, Ted’s worked on various projects, including the Lab Rat comic and DotA 2. His fiction has been widely reprinted and nominated for both the Nebula and Theodore Sturgeon awards.","SteamID":null,"Alias":null,"Sex":1},{"ID":"cfe243af-71b7-4ff2-96b2-7636d5f915b3","FirstName":"Matt","LastName":"Logue","Description":"As a paint fixer and rotoscope artist at the legendary Tippett Studio, Matthew painted a pimple out of Darryl Hannah’s armpit for My Favorite Martian and rotoscoped Kevin Bacon in a black bodysuit for Hollowman. He moved on to legendary Weta Digital to work as an animator and animation lead for The Lord of the Rings trilogy. He came to legendary Valve from Los Angeles where he was the animation supervisor on The Chronicles of Narnia; The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe, the longest title of any film he’s ever worked on. He’s now animating on Dota 2. Matthew had been eyeing Valve for awhile and is happy to report that he and his family like Seattle much better than LA, although the weather reminds him of that Ray Bradbury short story (All Summer in a Day) where the sun only comes out for two hours every seven years.","SteamID":null,"Alias":null,"Sex":1},{"ID":"a85f053e-862e-4973-b0c2-7fbd80ea1e6a","FirstName":"John","LastName":"Morello II","Description":"John is an animator most of the time. He’s been a gamer since his parents bought their Commodore 64. As a high-schooler he made small Quake mods and became addicted to Team Fortress. After graduating, his brother introduced him to the guys on the Day of Defeat team. They wanted to ship their mod, but they needed animation help. John jumped in. Valve eventually invited John and the rest of the team to continue DoD development at Valve’s offices. At this point, John has worked on nearly every product we've shipped. His TF obsession is over - replaced by an addiction to DotA, and lapping his Ducati at local road courses.","SteamID":null,"Alias":null,"Sex":1},{"ID":"4cb33a49-b334-4a21-a906-5a6eb72b75bc","FirstName":"Matthew","LastName":"An","Description":"Matthew loved to play video games as a child. His parents warned him that playing games wasn't going to get him a job in the future. After graduating from the University of Washington in 2010, he proved them wrong by landing a job at Valve. As part of Valve’s Steam Support Team, Matthew helps support our Korean community and localizing efforts, making thousands of Korean Steam users believe we actually have offices in Korea. Matthew also uses his Photoshop skills to help make sure advertisements for sales and promotions get properly translated and presented to Steam users in Chinese, Japanese, Russian, Spanish, French, and German - just to name a few. In his spare time he enjoys playing soccer and any first-person shooter game he can get his hands on.","SteamID":"anster","Alias":null,"Sex":1},{"ID":"2154d336-7dba-452f-8c07-9808911573de","FirstName":"Greg","LastName":"Coomer","Description":"Prior to joining Valve, Greg helped Microsoft design various software products. Before that, he worked with Nintendo, started and ran a user interface design company, and spent several years as a freelance product designer. After helping to come up with the company name, Greg went on to lead the first game project that Valve ever cancelled. Greg's secret dream is to create a game called Akzidenz-Grotesk. You know, for kids.","SteamID":"greg","Alias":null,"Sex":1},{"ID":"c2b94d38-aa82-47b3-a270-df2e7e532913","FirstName":"Christen","LastName":"Coomer","Description":"Christen joined Valve after serving ten years at Microsoft, where she designed a variety of consumer products and platforms. Since they let her go on good behavior, she’s joined the Steam team, where she designs, produces, tests, ships, and markets new features with the team of Steam engineers. And her brother. Have feedback or suggestions about Steam? Send 'em her way!","SteamID":"christen","Alias":null,"Sex":0},{"ID":"82a01556-8c80-4305-bc94-2a046d9c8b45","FirstName":"Al","LastName":"Farnsworth","Description":"After a couple of years spending too much time in meetings at Amazon.com, Al made the trip across Lake Washington to join Valve as a web developer on the Steam team. When he's not playtesting Team Fortress 2, Al works on the Steam store and other Valve websites.","SteamID":"afarnsworth","Alias":null,"Sex":1},{"ID":"ba8cb404-06aa-4d5f-b7f9-e377b6cd82b4","FirstName":"Derrick","LastName":"Gennrich","Description":"For 10 years he played Counter-Strike and haunted game tournaments, such as the Cyberathlete Professional League Winter Championships. Now, he’s here at Valve. Derrick has been with the company for almost four years, assisting customers as part of our Steam Support team. His hobbies include animation, playing video games, running half-marathons for fun (Yes, he’s nuts!), and being a DJ.","SteamID":"derrickg","Alias":null,"Sex":1},{"ID":"d849b645-ba63-43cd-905d-9254ae474816","FirstName":"Burton","LastName":"Johnsey","Description":"A Texas-born, Justin Bieber look-alike, Burton jumped into gaming at an early age. Building computers, hoarding consoles, and moderating Steam forums made him quite the teen heartthrob. When his facial hair became too prominent to disguise, he jumped into a Geek Squad uniform and enrolled as a Computer Science major at Southern Methodist University. In 2007, Burton joined Valve as a Community Developer. He came with a signature giggle, an addiction to Snickers, and the rare ability to find a relevant song for any occasion. Now, Burton can also claim expertise in web development, anti-cheat development, and community management.","SteamID":"burtonj","Alias":null,"Sex":1},{"ID":"ef4bbd68-1f6f-4fb3-9803-6b960bed0917","FirstName":"Dave","LastName":"Kircher","Description":"Dave joined Valve in 2005, fresh from the DigiPen Institute of Technology, where he helped create the mind-bending student project (and Portal precursor) Narbacular Drop. His primary contributions to Portal and Portal 2 involved developing the graphics and physics systems that make the games’ unique discontinuous spaces work seamlessly in a 3D environment. With the addition of multiplayer in Portal 2, Dave then made those spatial discontinuities work with nonlinear prediction. Dave has also contributed to Left 4 Dead games and Xbox360 support for the Source engine. He is known within the company for his ability to quickly find new exploits in game mechanics.","SteamID":"them","Alias":null,"Sex":1},{"ID":"4b74c113-cfe6-4484-8e93-5e27a1bd8eed","FirstName":"Alden","LastName":"Kroll","Description":"Alden has a habit of ending up in the middle of everything. If he isn't getting in the way of Steam game releases, he’s probably working on UI design for Valve games or the Steam store. Alden came to Valve after working on design and production for the Xbox 360 Dashboard. Before that, he studied design at the University of Washington and worked on various freelance design projects. When he’s not working, Alden can be found chasing his competitive ambitions in cycling and swimming. He commutes to work by swimming back and forth across Lake Washington every day. Most weekends, he relaxes by riding his bike to Portland. Twice.","SteamID":"alden","Alias":null,"Sex":1}]