Alex Vlachos has left Valve

[anexanhume]

Interesting that another person in the dev world acknowledges it without knowing the destination.

Edit:

He said himself a few weeks ago.

https://twitter.com/AlexVlachos/status/1163522843725819904

Click to shrink...

Have a look at what Alex Vlachos has been working on for much of his career:

[*]Motion Smoothing
[*]Asynchronous Reprojection Scheduling & Running Start
[*]Adaptive Quality
[*]SteamVR Auto Resolution
[*]Ghost Correction
[*]Panel Masking
[*]Edge Focal Blur
[*]Dynamic Panel Masking
[*]Hidden Area Mesh
[*]Supersample Filtering
[*]Multi-GPU Rendering Algorithms for 2 and 4 GPUs
[*]Fixed Foveated Rendering
[*]Radial Density Masking
[*]Specular Antialiasing Using Roughness Filtered Mip Chains
[*]Geometric Specular Antialiasing

PATENTS:
[*]U.S. Patent No. 10,311,540, "Radial density masking systems and methods" (VR rendering technology to increase performance by reducing the number of pixels rendered at the periphery)
[*]U.S. Patent No. 10,297,077, "Hidden area stencil mesh rendering systems and methods" (SteamVR Hidden Area Mesh)
[*]U.S. Patent No. 10,241,566, "Sensory feedback systems and methods for guiding users in virtual reality environments" (SteamVR Chaperone System)
[*]U.S. Patent No. 7,145,564, "Method and apparatus for tessellation lighting"
[*]U.S. Patent No. 6,940,503, "Method and apparatus for processing non-planar video graphics primitives," (Curved PN Triangles / N-Patches)

PUBLICATIONS:
[*]Graphics Section Editor, Game Programming Gems 4, Vlachos, 2004
[*]"Carving Static Shadows into Geometry", Game Programming Gems 4, Vlachos, 2004
[*]"Adjusting Real-Time Lighting for Shadow Volumes and Optimized Meshes", Game Programming Gems 4, Vlachos, Oat, 2004
[*]"Real-Time Motion Blur", ShaderX 2, Isidoro, Tatarchuk, Brennan, Vlachos, 2003
[*]"Computing Optimized Shadow Volumes", Game Programming Gems 3, Vlachos, Card, 2002
[*]"Solving Functions with Textures", Game Programming Gems 3, Vlachos, Isidoro, Oat, 2002
[*]"Rendering Ocean Water", ShaderX, Isidoro, Vlachos, Brennan, 2002
[*]"Rippling Reflective and Refractive Water", ShaderX, Vlachos, Isidoro, Oat, 2002
[*]"Texturing Terrain Using Pixel Shaders", ShaderX, Vlachos, 2002
[*]"UV Flipping Technique to Avoid Repetition", ShaderX, Vlachos, 2002
[*]"Smooth C2 Quaternion-Based Flythrough Paths", Game Programming Gems 2, Vlachos, Isidoro, 2001
[*]"Self-Shadowing Characters", Game Programming Gems 2, Vlachos, Gosselin, Mitchell, 2001
[*]"Approximating Fish Tank Refractions", Game Programming Gems 2, Vlachos, 2001
[*]"Rendering Print Resolution Screenshots", Game Programming Gems 2, Vlachos, Hart, 2001
[*]"Curved PN Triangles", 2001 ACM Symposium on Interactive 3D Graphics, Vlachos, Peters, Boyd, Mitchell, 2001 CurvedPNTriangles.pdf (3MB)
[*]"Refraction Mapping for Liquids in Containers", Game Programming Gems, Vlachos, Mitchell, 2000

CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS:
[*]"Advanced VR Rendering Performance", Game Developers Conference 2016, Alex_Vlachos_Advanced_VR_Rendering_Performance_GDC2016.pdf (14.7 MB)
Live video of presentation: http://www.gdcvault.com/play/1023522/Advanced-VR-Rendering
[*]"Advanced VR Rendering", Game Developers Conference 2015, Alex_Vlachos_Advanced_VR_Rendering_GDC2015.pdf (8.5 MB)
Live video of presentation: http://www.gdcvault.com/play/1021771/Advanced-VR
[*]"Water Flow in Portal 2", SIGGRAPH 2010, Vlachos-SIGGRAPH10-WaterFlow.pdf (6.3 MB)
[*]"Rendering Wounds in Left 4 Dead 2", Game Developers Conference 2010, Vlachos-GDC10-Left4Dead2Wounds.pdf (4.3 MB)
[*]"Post Processing in The Orange Box", Game Developers Conference 2008, Vlachos-GDC08-PostProcessingInTheOrangeBox.pdf (3 MB)
[*]"Advanced OpenGL Techniques", Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2003
[*]"Designing a Portable Shader Library for Current & Future API's", Game Developers Conference 2003
[*]"Advanced Visual Effects with Direct3D", Game Developers Conference 2003
[*]"Fur, Bumps, and Shadows", Game Developers Conference Europe 2002, London, England, Vlachos-GDCE02-FurBumpsShadows.pdf (4.9 MB)
[*]"Designing a Shader Library for Current & Next Generation Hardware", Game Developers Conference 2002
[*]"Preparing Sushi: Graphics Engine for ATI's Demos", Game Developers Conference Europe 2001, London, England
[*]"Curved PN Triangles", 2001 ACM Symposium on Interactive 3D Graphics, CurvedPNTriangles.pdf (3MB)
[*]"Volume Textures and DirectX 8 N-Patches", Microsoft Meltdown Seattle 2000
[*]"DirectX 8 Higher-Order Surfaces", Game Developers Conference 2000
[*]"Using the Direct3D Pixel Pipeline to Evaluate Classical Lighting Equations", Microsoft Meltdown UK 1999, London, England

These are things SteamVR does best-in-class. He does graphics tech R&D, not art design. Valve is absolutely AAA when it comes to VR R&D, nobody puts more money into their VR R&D than valve currently. They're the industry leader in VR graphics tech.

Click to shrink...

 

[Deleted member 5491]

Why stay at a company if you don't actually have something new and interesting to do?

 

[artsi]

According to LinkedIn he owns a mobile app company, so maybe he just didn't want to be a salaryman anymore and is focusing on that venture.

 

[Deleted member 10675]

He said himself a few weeks ago.

https://twitter.com/AlexVlachos/status/1163522843725819904

 

[Umbrella Carp]

Valve should just rename the whole company to "Steam Inc." and be done with it.

 

[ProstatePuncher]

Why stay at a company if you don't actually have something new and interesting to do?

Click to shrink...

Take a look at his resume on his website and you'll see he appeared to be very in-deep with the Steam VR stuff. Valve isn't some box where people sit about and do fuck all all day.

 

[tuxfool]

Interesting that another person in the dev world acknowledges it without knowing the destination.

Click to shrink...

This person is not really trustworthy, people quit, change their jobs. It's not a big deal.

 

[Deleted member 12790]

Interesting that another person in the dev world acknowledges it without knowing the destination.

Click to shrink...

That would be because Richard Geldrich has burned many of his bridges with Valve. Like, just the other day, there was a back and forth between Tom Forsyth and Chet Faliszek about Richard Geldrich where it was revealed that he has blocked, according to his own mouth, "97% of valve/ex-valve employees on principle alone, jeri (elsworth) is the exception."

Which is why he's apparently very late to hear this news, since this was announced a long while ago.

 

[Dalik]

Why stay at a company if you don't actually have something new and interesting to do?

Click to shrink...

Why post in a thread if you don't actually have something new and meaningful to contribute with?

Valve should just rename the whole company to "Steam Inc." and be done with it.

Click to shrink...

They just released a VR set and dota underlords a few months ago?? Last year they released artifact. How many games do they have to do ffs

 

[Deleted member 8196]

Why stay at a company if you don't actually have something new and interesting to do?

Click to shrink...

The guy is a graphics and gameplay programmer and he worked on Half-Life 2 Ep2, TF2, Portal 1&2, Left4Dead 1&2, Dota2, CS:GO, The Lab, HTC Vive and SteamVR.

So maybe use google before posting nonsense next time

 

[Deleted member 5491]

The guy is a graphics and gameplay programmer and he worked on Half-Life 2 Ep2, TF2, Portal 1&2, Left4Dead 1&2, Dota2, CS:GO, The Lab, HTC Vive and SteamVR.

So maybe use google before posting nonsense next time

Click to shrink...

Oh maybe he just wants to create some graphics for NEW(!) games and not only for expansions of older games and tech that can be used for SteamVR.

 

[Deleted member 12790]

Oh maybe he just wants to create some graphics for NEW(!) games and not only for expansions of older games and tech that can be used for SteamVR.

Click to shrink...

TheLab is full of NEW(!) games

Also, Alex Vlachos doesn't "create graphics." He's a Systems Architect.

 

[Turin Turambar]

According to LinkedIn he owns a mobile app company, so maybe he just didn't want to be a salaryman anymore and is focusing on that venture.

Click to shrink...

Well, being the main render engine guy at Valve wasn't exactly being your average salaryman.

 

[Anthony Hopkins]

The guy is a graphics and gameplay programmer and he worked on Half-Life 2 Ep2, TF2, Portal 1&2, Left4Dead 1&2, Dota2, CS:GO, The Lab, HTC Vive and SteamVR.

So maybe use google before posting nonsense next time

Click to shrink...

While valve are doing interesting things, they are not in the AAA space in in the same way they once were. Not saying you are incorrect but that's probably what Mazzle was getting at.

 

[Deleted member 12790]

While valve are doing interesting things, they are not in the AAA space in in the same way they once were. Not saying you are incorrect but that's probably what Mazzle was getting at.

Click to shrink...

Have a look at what Alex Vlachos has been working on for much of his career:

[*]Motion Smoothing
[*]Asynchronous Reprojection Scheduling & Running Start
[*]Adaptive Quality
[*]SteamVR Auto Resolution
[*]Ghost Correction
[*]Panel Masking
[*]Edge Focal Blur
[*]Dynamic Panel Masking
[*]Hidden Area Mesh
[*]Supersample Filtering
[*]Multi-GPU Rendering Algorithms for 2 and 4 GPUs
[*]Fixed Foveated Rendering
[*]Radial Density Masking
[*]Specular Antialiasing Using Roughness Filtered Mip Chains
[*]Geometric Specular Antialiasing

PATENTS:
[*]U.S. Patent No. 10,311,540, "Radial density masking systems and methods" (VR rendering technology to increase performance by reducing the number of pixels rendered at the periphery)
[*]U.S. Patent No. 10,297,077, "Hidden area stencil mesh rendering systems and methods" (SteamVR Hidden Area Mesh)
[*]U.S. Patent No. 10,241,566, "Sensory feedback systems and methods for guiding users in virtual reality environments" (SteamVR Chaperone System)
[*]U.S. Patent No. 7,145,564, "Method and apparatus for tessellation lighting"
[*]U.S. Patent No. 6,940,503, "Method and apparatus for processing non-planar video graphics primitives," (Curved PN Triangles / N-Patches)

PUBLICATIONS:
[*]Graphics Section Editor, Game Programming Gems 4, Vlachos, 2004
[*]"Carving Static Shadows into Geometry", Game Programming Gems 4, Vlachos, 2004
[*]"Adjusting Real-Time Lighting for Shadow Volumes and Optimized Meshes", Game Programming Gems 4, Vlachos, Oat, 2004
[*]"Real-Time Motion Blur", ShaderX 2, Isidoro, Tatarchuk, Brennan, Vlachos, 2003
[*]"Computing Optimized Shadow Volumes", Game Programming Gems 3, Vlachos, Card, 2002
[*]"Solving Functions with Textures", Game Programming Gems 3, Vlachos, Isidoro, Oat, 2002
[*]"Rendering Ocean Water", ShaderX, Isidoro, Vlachos, Brennan, 2002
[*]"Rippling Reflective and Refractive Water", ShaderX, Vlachos, Isidoro, Oat, 2002
[*]"Texturing Terrain Using Pixel Shaders", ShaderX, Vlachos, 2002
[*]"UV Flipping Technique to Avoid Repetition", ShaderX, Vlachos, 2002
[*]"Smooth C2 Quaternion-Based Flythrough Paths", Game Programming Gems 2, Vlachos, Isidoro, 2001
[*]"Self-Shadowing Characters", Game Programming Gems 2, Vlachos, Gosselin, Mitchell, 2001
[*]"Approximating Fish Tank Refractions", Game Programming Gems 2, Vlachos, 2001
[*]"Rendering Print Resolution Screenshots", Game Programming Gems 2, Vlachos, Hart, 2001
[*]"Curved PN Triangles", 2001 ACM Symposium on Interactive 3D Graphics, Vlachos, Peters, Boyd, Mitchell, 2001 CurvedPNTriangles.pdf (3MB)
[*]"Refraction Mapping for Liquids in Containers", Game Programming Gems, Vlachos, Mitchell, 2000

CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS:
[*]"Advanced VR Rendering Performance", Game Developers Conference 2016, Alex_Vlachos_Advanced_VR_Rendering_Performance_GDC2016.pdf (14.7 MB)
Live video of presentation: http://www.gdcvault.com/play/1023522/Advanced-VR-Rendering
[*]"Advanced VR Rendering", Game Developers Conference 2015, Alex_Vlachos_Advanced_VR_Rendering_GDC2015.pdf (8.5 MB)
Live video of presentation: http://www.gdcvault.com/play/1021771/Advanced-VR
[*]"Water Flow in Portal 2", SIGGRAPH 2010, Vlachos-SIGGRAPH10-WaterFlow.pdf (6.3 MB)
[*]"Rendering Wounds in Left 4 Dead 2", Game Developers Conference 2010, Vlachos-GDC10-Left4Dead2Wounds.pdf (4.3 MB)
[*]"Post Processing in The Orange Box", Game Developers Conference 2008, Vlachos-GDC08-PostProcessingInTheOrangeBox.pdf (3 MB)
[*]"Advanced OpenGL Techniques", Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2003
[*]"Designing a Portable Shader Library for Current & Future API's", Game Developers Conference 2003
[*]"Advanced Visual Effects with Direct3D", Game Developers Conference 2003
[*]"Fur, Bumps, and Shadows", Game Developers Conference Europe 2002, London, England, Vlachos-GDCE02-FurBumpsShadows.pdf (4.9 MB)
[*]"Designing a Shader Library for Current & Next Generation Hardware", Game Developers Conference 2002
[*]"Preparing Sushi: Graphics Engine for ATI's Demos", Game Developers Conference Europe 2001, London, England
[*]"Curved PN Triangles", 2001 ACM Symposium on Interactive 3D Graphics, CurvedPNTriangles.pdf (3MB)
[*]"Volume Textures and DirectX 8 N-Patches", Microsoft Meltdown Seattle 2000
[*]"DirectX 8 Higher-Order Surfaces", Game Developers Conference 2000
[*]"Using the Direct3D Pixel Pipeline to Evaluate Classical Lighting Equations", Microsoft Meltdown UK 1999, London, England

These are things SteamVR does best-in-class. He does graphics tech R&D, not art design. Valve is absolutely AAA when it comes to VR R&D, nobody puts more money into their VR R&D than valve currently. They're the industry leader in VR graphics tech.

 

[Deleted member 5491]

While valve are doing interesting things, they are not in the AAA space in in the same way they once were. Not saying you are incorrect but that's probably what Mazzle was getting at.

Click to shrink...

Yes, thanks.
Everyone with some ambitions like him wants to be challenged, wants something new.
And if Valve is only doing these little VR things and not some big boundary pushing titles, like they used to then it is easy to see for someone like
him to leave and get a Job anywhere he likes to go

 

[GhostTrick]

Have a look at what Alex Vlachos has been working on for much of his career:

[*]Motion Smoothing
[*]Asynchronous Reprojection Scheduling & Running Start
[*]Adaptive Quality
[*]SteamVR Auto Resolution
[*]Ghost Correction
[*]Panel Masking
[*]Edge Focal Blur
[*]Dynamic Panel Masking
[*]Hidden Area Mesh
[*]Supersample Filtering
[*]Multi-GPU Rendering Algorithms for 2 and 4 GPUs
[*]Fixed Foveated Rendering
[*]Radial Density Masking
[*]Specular Antialiasing Using Roughness Filtered Mip Chains
[*]Geometric Specular Antialiasing

PATENTS:
[*]U.S. Patent No. 10,311,540, "Radial density masking systems and methods" (VR rendering technology to increase performance by reducing the number of pixels rendered at the periphery)
[*]U.S. Patent No. 10,297,077, "Hidden area stencil mesh rendering systems and methods" (SteamVR Hidden Area Mesh)
[*]U.S. Patent No. 10,241,566, "Sensory feedback systems and methods for guiding users in virtual reality environments" (SteamVR Chaperone System)
[*]U.S. Patent No. 7,145,564, "Method and apparatus for tessellation lighting"
[*]U.S. Patent No. 6,940,503, "Method and apparatus for processing non-planar video graphics primitives," (Curved PN Triangles / N-Patches)

PUBLICATIONS:
[*]Graphics Section Editor, Game Programming Gems 4, Vlachos, 2004
[*]"Carving Static Shadows into Geometry", Game Programming Gems 4, Vlachos, 2004
[*]"Adjusting Real-Time Lighting for Shadow Volumes and Optimized Meshes", Game Programming Gems 4, Vlachos, Oat, 2004
[*]"Real-Time Motion Blur", ShaderX 2, Isidoro, Tatarchuk, Brennan, Vlachos, 2003
[*]"Computing Optimized Shadow Volumes", Game Programming Gems 3, Vlachos, Card, 2002
[*]"Solving Functions with Textures", Game Programming Gems 3, Vlachos, Isidoro, Oat, 2002
[*]"Rendering Ocean Water", ShaderX, Isidoro, Vlachos, Brennan, 2002
[*]"Rippling Reflective and Refractive Water", ShaderX, Vlachos, Isidoro, Oat, 2002
[*]"Texturing Terrain Using Pixel Shaders", ShaderX, Vlachos, 2002
[*]"UV Flipping Technique to Avoid Repetition", ShaderX, Vlachos, 2002
[*]"Smooth C2 Quaternion-Based Flythrough Paths", Game Programming Gems 2, Vlachos, Isidoro, 2001
[*]"Self-Shadowing Characters", Game Programming Gems 2, Vlachos, Gosselin, Mitchell, 2001
[*]"Approximating Fish Tank Refractions", Game Programming Gems 2, Vlachos, 2001
[*]"Rendering Print Resolution Screenshots", Game Programming Gems 2, Vlachos, Hart, 2001
[*]"Curved PN Triangles", 2001 ACM Symposium on Interactive 3D Graphics, Vlachos, Peters, Boyd, Mitchell, 2001 CurvedPNTriangles.pdf (3MB)
[*]"Refraction Mapping for Liquids in Containers", Game Programming Gems, Vlachos, Mitchell, 2000

CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS:
[*]"Advanced VR Rendering Performance", Game Developers Conference 2016, Alex_Vlachos_Advanced_VR_Rendering_Performance_GDC2016.pdf (14.7 MB)
Live video of presentation: http://www.gdcvault.com/play/1023522/Advanced-VR-Rendering
[*]"Advanced VR Rendering", Game Developers Conference 2015, Alex_Vlachos_Advanced_VR_Rendering_GDC2015.pdf (8.5 MB)
Live video of presentation: http://www.gdcvault.com/play/1021771/Advanced-VR
[*]"Water Flow in Portal 2", SIGGRAPH 2010, Vlachos-SIGGRAPH10-WaterFlow.pdf (6.3 MB)
[*]"Rendering Wounds in Left 4 Dead 2", Game Developers Conference 2010, Vlachos-GDC10-Left4Dead2Wounds.pdf (4.3 MB)
[*]"Post Processing in The Orange Box", Game Developers Conference 2008, Vlachos-GDC08-PostProcessingInTheOrangeBox.pdf (3 MB)
[*]"Advanced OpenGL Techniques", Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2003
[*]"Designing a Portable Shader Library for Current & Future API's", Game Developers Conference 2003
[*]"Advanced Visual Effects with Direct3D", Game Developers Conference 2003
[*]"Fur, Bumps, and Shadows", Game Developers Conference Europe 2002, London, England, Vlachos-GDCE02-FurBumpsShadows.pdf (4.9 MB)
[*]"Designing a Shader Library for Current & Next Generation Hardware", Game Developers Conference 2002
[*]"Preparing Sushi: Graphics Engine for ATI's Demos", Game Developers Conference Europe 2001, London, England
[*]"Curved PN Triangles", 2001 ACM Symposium on Interactive 3D Graphics, CurvedPNTriangles.pdf (3MB)
[*]"Volume Textures and DirectX 8 N-Patches", Microsoft Meltdown Seattle 2000
[*]"DirectX 8 Higher-Order Surfaces", Game Developers Conference 2000
[*]"Using the Direct3D Pixel Pipeline to Evaluate Classical Lighting Equations", Microsoft Meltdown UK 1999, London, England

These are things SteamVR does best-in-class. He does graphics tech R&D, not art design. Valve is absolutely AAA when it comes to VR R&D, nobody puts more money into their VR R&D than valve currently. They're the industry leader in VR graphics tech.

Click to shrink...

Yeah but where's my AAA 3rd person story focused single player game ? Because everything else doesn't count.

 

[Deleted member 12790]

And if Valve is only doing these little VR things and not some big boundary pushing titles

Click to shrink...

these "little VR things" are currently the most advanced consumer graphics tech on the market

 

[Deleted member 12790]

then it is easy to see for someone like him to leave and get a Job anywhere he likes to go

Click to shrink...

https://twitter.com/AlexVlachos/status/1163522843725819904

After 13 amazing years at Valve, it's time for a change. It was a hard decision to leave, but I couldn't be happier. I have a few wheels in motion. Nothing to share just yet. Excited about what comes next. Until then, I'm taking a well-deserved hiatus and enjoying some time off!

Click to shrink...

 

[Phil me in]

They don't even make games any more. What do their devs actually do?

 

[anexanhume]

That would be because Richard Geldrich has burned many of his bridges with Valve. Like, just the other day, there was a back and forth between Tom Forsyth and Chet Faliszek about Richard Geldrich where it was revealed that he has blocked, according to his own mouth, "97% of valve/ex-valve employees on principle alone, jeri (elsworth) is the exception."

Which is why he's apparently very late to hear this news, since this was announced a long while ago.

Click to shrink...

Thanks for the background on him as well as Vlachos. Gives a lot more context to e everything here.

 

[tuxfool]

While valve are doing interesting things, they are not in the AAA space in in the same way they once were. Not saying you are incorrect but that's probably what Mazzle was getting at.

Click to shrink...

It is an arrogant presumption. "this person is not working on things I find interesting, therefore the work they were doing was pointless".

 

[Zoon]

They don't even make games any more. What do their devs actually do?

Click to shrink...

Laugh at jokes like this.

 

[bobnowhere]

So, the sky is falling? Yay or Nay?

 

[tuxfool]

Thanks for the background on him as well as Vlachos. Gives a lot more context to e everything here.

Click to shrink...

You could have gone to Alex Vlachos' twitter account first though. Why would you go to a third party in the first place?

 

[Tempy]

Oh maybe he just wants to create some graphics for NEW(!) games and not only for expansions of older games and tech that can be used for SteamVR.

Click to shrink...

Or maybe you just made that up on the spot.

 

[Deleted member 12790]

So, the sky is falling? Yay or Nay?

Click to shrink...

It's a pretty big bummer for me that he left Valve, but like many smart people I assume he's going to continue working in the field, just more on his own terms.

Also, once you leave a company like this, it's not like you can't ever work with them again. He could still do work with valve as contract labor, as valve pays lots of contract devs. Like they've asked Ryan Gordon many times to join with Valve as an official employee, which he declines, but he still works pretty much full time with them as contract labor with the majority of his funding coming from valve solely.

 

[Deleted member 5491]

these "little VR things" are currently the most advanced consumer graphics tech on the market

Click to shrink...

And maybe he wants to make stuff for big AAA games with a big scope and other/new tech?
Shit that Valve isn't doing anymore!?

https://twitter.com/AlexVlachos/status/1163522843725819904

Click to shrink...

EASY TO SEE. Can you read?

And yeah wow, n public message to everyone around the world, which also his former employer can see.
Of course you would say something like this. Plus changing the job and maybe even move is always hard.

 

[Deleted member 5491]

Or maybe you just made that up on the spot.

Click to shrink...

Yes, I made this up just for you, so you can sleep at night.

 

[tuxfool]

And maybe he wants to make stuff for big AAA games with a big scope and other/new tech?
Shit that Valve isn't doing anymore!?


EASY TO SEE. Can you read?

And yeah wow, n public message to everyone around the world, which also his former employer can see.
Of course you would say something like this. Plus changing the job and maybe even move is always hard.

Click to shrink...

You have no basis for your suppositions though. Any supporting evidence to lend any credence to what you're saying?

 

[Deleted member 12790]

And maybe he wants to make stuff for big AAA games with a big scope and other/new tech?
Shit that Valve isn't doing anymore!?

EASY TO SEE. Can you read?

And yeah wow, n public message to everyone around the world, which also his former employer can see.
Of course you would say something like this. Plus changing the job and maybe even move is always hard.

Click to shrink...

 

[Garlador]

Another exit to the portal...

 

[Tempy]

Yes, I made this up just for you, so you can sleep at night.

Click to shrink...

Worthless poster. Off to the ignore pile with you~

 

[Ailanthium]

Yeah but where's my AAA 3rd person story focused single player game ? Because everything else doesn't count.

Click to shrink...

Don't you think that's strawmanning his argument a little? The intellectual property people want to see more of-- Left for Dead, Portal, Half Life-- don't even fall into those categories. And while their moves in the virtual reality space have advanced the field considerably, that has only really effected users who buy into what is still a very niche product (and one that many people can't engage with because they literally get sick using it). I don't necessarily agree that Valve just twiddling their thumbs doing nothing while accumulating massive piles of cash, but the reality is that their footprint on the gaming space has been hamstrung by their own pivot towards virtual reality.

Artifact was a welcome return to the wider gaming market but it's incredibly obvious why people weren't willing to jump onboard with its pricing model and the fact that there was very little on the surface that distinguishes it from its (heated) competition. You could probably imagine why some people took it as a slap to the face.

 

[tuxfool]

Don't you think that's strawmanning his argument a little?

Click to shrink...

I think in reference to the original poster, This degree of contempt is entirely warranted.

 

[Deleted member 5491]

Click to shrink...

Why do you leave a company?
Either the whole company is a shit show, you're treated poorly and get paid poorly or the work you do
isn't fullfilling you. And if he leaves a well paid job (from what I hear), and he can do some cool VR tech,
maybe, JUST MAYBE he has other interests. Something different and new he wan't to create, which he can't at Valve.

Is it really that hard to understand?

And again: You don't publicly shit on your former employer if they somewhat treated you well and want that they shit on your resumee
when your possible next employer is asking them about you

 

[Deleted member 12790]

Why do you leave a company?

Click to shrink...

Or maybe he wants a break? As indicated by him saying the first thing he's going to do is take a long vacation and step away from dev.

BTW: This topic is about a tweet from a dude who did exactly what you say you don't do. Richard geldreich shits on valve all the time, he's one of the biggest Epic Games Store proponents around.

 

[tuxfool]

JUST MAYBE he has other interests.

Click to shrink...

That is clear. But that is not what you said.

 

[Absolute]

Why do you leave a company?
Either the whole company is a shit show, you're treated poorly and get paid poorly or the work you do
isn't fullfilling you. And if he leaves a well paid job (from what I hear), and he can do some cool VR tech,
maybe, JUST MAYBE he has other interests. Something different and new he wan't to create, which he can't at Valve.

Is it really that hard to understand?

And again: You don't publicly shit on your former employer if they somewhat treated you well and want that they shit on your resumee
when your possible next employer is asking them about you

Click to shrink...

Good job derailing the thread with vAlVe dOeSNt mAkE GamEs AnYmOrE and then doubling down.

Sad to see this guy leave valve as he seems to have been a key figure there. Hopefully he stays in the industry and has success elsewhere.

 

[Pixieking]

OP needs Alex's own tweet added to it, as well as that resume posted above, otherwise this whole discussion is just going to be "Why'd he leave? Valve don't make games anymore lol".

Also, lord above, Valve threads still suck here because people just don't bother to read or learn stuff.

 

[Tart Toter 9K]

What does Valve even do at this point? Do they even have computers in their offices? They should just open up their "office" as some sort of museum for anicient relics or knives.








/s

 

[Deleted member 15428]

Why stay at a company if you don't actually have something new and interesting to do?

Click to shrink...

What was he working on?

 

[texhnolyze]

Good luck for him in the future.

What was he working on?

Click to shrink...

That old, ancient, and uninteresting tech called VR or something like that.

 

[Deleted member 2840]

Employee leaves a game company after staying there for over 13 years, something that literally happens all the time in the industry.

ERA: WHOA HE HATED IT THERE THEY DON'T MAKE GAMES ANYMORE WHY LEAVE UNLESS YOU HATED IT?!?!


Some people here would have their minds blown off if they realized how many people just leave their favorite companies for no reason but to try something different. Naughty Dog, Rockstar, Monolith, Platinum Games, every company something like that happens and it isn't a weird "sign" that things there are a shitshow.

 

[ThreepQuest64]

They just released a VR set and dota underlords a few months ago?? Last year they released artifact. How many games do they have to do ffs

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Doesn't matter how many... but hALf lifE 3!!!!111einseins /s

People leaving companies all the time. There might be personal reasons such as moving to a different location, family matters, or just the feeling of wanting to do something different.

 

[Deleted member 12790]

Employee leaves a game company after staying there for over 13 years, something that literally happens all the time in the industry.

ERA: WHOA HE HATED IT THERE THEY DON'T MAKE GAMES ANYMORE WHY LEAVE UNLESS YOU HATED IT?!?!


Some people here would have their minds blown off if they realized how many people just leave their favorite companies for no reason but to try something different. Naughty Dog, Rockstar, Monolith, Platinum Games, every company something like that happens and it isn't a weird "sign" that things there are a shitshow.

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I like how Oculus tried to poach Valve's entire VR division with enormous amounts of cash but virtually everyone stayed at Valve but most people don't know any of these people's names so they assume everyone is miserable there.

 

[astro]

Employee leaves a game company after staying there for over 13 years, something that literally happens all the time in the industry.

ERA: WHOA HE HATED IT THERE THEY DON'T MAKE GAMES ANYMORE WHY LEAVE UNLESS YOU HATED IT?!?!


Some people here would have their minds blown off if they realized how many people just leave their favorite companies for no reason but to try something different. Naughty Dog, Rockstar, Monolith, Platinum Games, every company something like that happens and it isn't a weird "sign" that things there are a shitshow.

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Era?

You mean Mazzle.

 

[eonden]

Why do you leave a company?
Either the whole company is a shit show, you're treated poorly and get paid poorly or the work you do
isn't fullfilling you. And if he leaves a well paid job (from what I hear), and he can do some cool VR tech,
maybe, JUST MAYBE he has other interests. Something different and new he wan't to create, which he can't at Valve.

Is it really that hard to understand?

And again: You don't publicly shit on your former employer if they somewhat treated you well and want that they shit on your resumee
when your possible next employer is asking them about you

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Just a tip, when you are as big of a figure as Alex Vlachos (or have such a good resumee), they dont really ask your ex-employer about you, because they already know everything needed (and they want you that bad).

 

[ShinUltramanJ]

Yes, thanks.
Everyone with some ambitions like him wants to be challenged, wants something new.
And if Valve is only doing these little VR things and not some big boundary pushing titles, like they used to then it is easy to see for someone like
him to leave and get a Job anywhere he likes to go

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Yeah, that VR junk isn't pushing any boundaries. You really seem to know what you're talking about with every comment.

 

[Sidebuster]

Good luck for him in the future.
That old, ancient, and uninteresting tech called VR or something like that.

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Like... that thing you hook up to an Amiga? Why work on old tech from the 30's? and not something new and interesting like a open world 3rd person action game?

I like how Oculus tried to poach Valve's entire VR division with enormous amounts of cash but virtually everyone stayed at Valve but most people don't know any of these people's names so they assume everyone is miserable there.

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Nah, he was probably miserable having free reign to create new technology. I bet Gabe was throwing dull knives at him for fun. How can anybody work at a place like this? Do they even force you to stay at work to crunch out the next update?

This is a sign that the failing Valve Software is going to go under any day now.