How did Valve get its name?

Question

And dont say Valve.

Answer 1

Valve got its name through a poker match, valve could have been named gearbox

check: http://www.joystiq.com/2009/08/17/whats-in-a-name-gearbox-software/

Comments

thanks! i alwso wanted to know haha

Answer 2

I don't know, maybe its an acrynom. I noticed that TF2 and DoDS have a pictuer of a guy with a valve on his head haah

Answer 3

I'm just going to assume that the two founders (Gabe Newell and some other guy) chose that name purely because they thought it sounded like a good name for a video game company. I'm not entirely sure why they chose the name Valve though.

Answer 4

fun fact, the pictures of the guy with the valve coming out of the back of the bald guys head and the one with the valve coming out of the guys eye are based on an “Open your mind. Open your eyes” concept developed when valve was first founded.

Answer 5

Seeing as that story was a fabrication, I have a somewhat less reliable answer: According to what I read on reddit it was all about 'open your mind open your eyes'

http://www.reddit.com/comments/guw36/the_guy_in_the_valve_splash_screen/

Answer 6

The "Valve" represents a valve that you would use to "open your mind" and "open your eyes". Hence the two Valve logos, which take this idea quite literally; a valve in the back of someones head, and another in someones eye.

Answer 7

It is just a name.... Why the need to think so much?