Since the launch of Steam for the Mac and the release of Valve's back-catalog of Source-engine titles, Valve has been "working with Apple and their GPU vendors to close the performance gap with Windows." It has paid off!

The latest Mac OSX update, released yesterday for Snow Leopard implemented changes that led Valve to see, "depending on the game, video settings and the hardware.. measured frame rate improvements from 15% to 120%." Read more »

Holiday? Steam sales don't rest, ladies and gents! In today's second last set of special summer prices, the highlights include Just Cause 2 for 50% off, Portal for $1.99 and the Freedom Force double pack for $1.87.

Steam Sales - July 3, 2010
• Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse - $17.49 (50% off from $34.99) Read more »

[Update - 2:10pm CST] The Steam Mac Games Store is now open, offering over fifty games and various launch day discounts, such as half-off Torchlight--making it $9.99--and 70% off Quantz, which brings that game down to just $3.00.

In addition, Valve's clever shooter-puzzler Portal is free on PC and Mac until May 24. Read more »

With Valve's digital distribution platform Steam slated to launch on the Mac platform tomorrow--Wednesday, May 12--the company today issued a few more details.

New "collections of Mac titles" will be available on Wednesdays, Valve explained today, with "each designed to highlight specific functionalitites of Steam on the Mac."

Read more »

The Mac OS version of Valve's digital distribution platform Steam will be released on May 12, the company confirmed today.

No other details on the launch were given--the announcement was a brief two sentences--though it will presumably debut alongside the native Mac versions of Left 4 Dead, Left 4 Dead 2, Team Fortress 2, Counter-Strike, Portal and the Half-Life series originally slated to launch with the Mac client in April 2010. Read more »

After some heavy-handed hints, Valve today confirmed that it will be bringing its previously Windows-only digital distribution platform Steam to the Mac in April 2010.

Said the company: "Steam and Valve's library of games including Left 4 Dead 2, Team Fortress 2, Counter-Strike, Portal, and the Half-Life series will be available in April." Read more »

QuakeCon 2010 has been announced! See you fools there!

This week saw an incredibly innovative game announcement by Valve Software. Using its unique position in the PC gaming industry through its digital distribution service, Steam, Valve launched an ARG eventually leading up to the reveal of Portal 2. Read more »

Steel yourself for another round of ...whatever it is that Valve's doing with Portal PC, as a second mystery update for the game just arrived via Steam. The only clue note:

Today, Valve Software published an update to Portal through Steam. The only patch note:

"Changed radio transmission frequency to comply with federal and state spectrum management regulations"

Along with this cryptic change, is a new achievement, titled "Transmission Received", which Shacker ghost in my shell reported unlocking after he "put the radio on the red button on the first stage." At this point it "started spitting out Morse code." Read more »

Having previously led development of Portal and worked on both Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2 while at Valve, Kim Swift has left the studio and joined Dark Void developer Airtight Games as a project lead, the latter independent studio revealed today.

Gang Garrison II rendered Team Fortress 2 in loving 2D and Portal: The Flash Version was so successful its levels were released in 3D then even the Xbox 360 port, but ASCIIpOrtal takes the Valve 2D remake lark to dizzying new heights.

Read more »

A video that appears to show a Unity-coded version of Valve's first-person puzzler Portal has been posted on Youtube.

While immediately suspect for looking as good as it does, there are enough differences between the one-room demo and the full version of Portal to suggest that the effort is authentic. The original poster claims that the video is the result of three weeks of work. Read more »

After announcing an agreement nearly one year ago today, Valve has updated its Orange Box games--Team Fortress 2, Half-Life 2, and Portal--to support Novint's Falcon three-dimensional controller. Left 4 Dead, Counter-Strike: Source and Day of Defeat will also soon receive similar updates.

The $150 Novint Falcon (shown left with optional pistol grip) was released in 2006. The three-dimensional "haptic" device is operated by a small spherical grip connected to three robotic arms. Read more »

For the second time this month, a fan of Valve's work has taken things into their own hands, and produced a real-life replica of some previously virtual in-game item.

Last time, it was a Team Fortress 2 dispenser. This time? The gun from Portal.

Read more »

Beloved developer Valve has released lifetime retail sales figures for some of its more popular games, including the Half-Life and Counter-Strike series, revealing that the studio has sold over 32.8 million games since the 1998 release of the first Half-Life.

Sales from Valve's digital distribution client are not factored in, with the figures only accounting for worldwide retail sales. With Half-Life 2, Valve began simultaneously releasing all of its PC games at retail and via Steam. The numbers were originally printed in the November issue of Game Informer, then republished by Gamasutra. Read more »