Valve Software, the gaming titan known for popular titles such as Half-Life and the Steam gaming platform, is considering leaving its longtime 110,000 square-foot headquarters in downtown Bellevue’s Skyline Tower in favor of bigger digs in Seattle, according to a report in the Puget Sound Business Journal.
Citing real estate sources, the Business Journal reports that the company is looking at upwards of 200,000 square-feet, including possible locations in Bellevue and Seattle.
A move to Seattle would be another potential blow to Bellevue, which learned last week that Expedia was uprooting its headquarters and moving to the former Amgen campus along Elliott Bay in Seattle. That move, which will take place in 2018, will take more than 3,000 jobs with it.
Expedia cited the ability to recruit talent with its Seattle address as part of the reason for the move.
Seattle’s gaming industry is split between the Eastside — home to names such as Nintendo and Xbox — and Seattle — home to PopCap, Big Fish, RealNetworks and others.
In addition to hit games, Valve is expanding aggressively into hardware with plans for a virtual reality headset, developed with HTC, and the Steam Machine gaming console which is set to be released later this year. The company also has expanded into competitive video gaming competitions.
Co-founded in 1996 by former Microsoft manager Gabe Newell, Valve is said to be worth billions.
