Half-Life & Steam Deck Developer Left Valve After 27 Years

Valve's renowned designer Greg Coomer left the company after 27 years of dedicated service. He marked it on his LinkedIn profile, stating the end of his work as a Product Designer at the company. He worked there from 1997 to January 2024, which is 27 years in total. Before joining Valve in 1997, Coomer worked as a UX Designer at Microsoft for three years, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Greg Coomer is a legendary figure for Valve, as he worked on its numerous projects, from games to consoles. He even helped name the company itself and worked on one of its first games, Prospero, which unfortunately was canceled. Later, Coomer worked on every game of the Half-Life series, as well as on Counter-Strike, Portal, Left 4 Dead, and many more. He is also a developer of Steam Deck, Valve's gaming handheld. 

Coomer's contribution to the development of the Half-Life series is even greater than one could think: the developer's appearance was partly used as a reference for creating the game's protagonist's, Gordon Freeman, look. Also, his last name appears in Half-Life as an Easter egg in the Anomalous Materials laboratory and can be heard in announcements. 

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of Half-Life 2, which was on November 16, Valve released a documentary about the game, sharing a ton of interesting insights. For instance, the company revealed footage of the canceled Half-Life 2: Episode 3 for the first time, showing the game's mechanics and enemies, and shared how a single intern in a legal department helped save the company, turning one of the cases in Valve's favor.

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