Are you an economist or psychologist? Valve would like to work with you
"We believe that all game designers are, in a sense, experimental psychologists."
If you've always wanted to work for a game developer but don't have the artistry or technical skills to become a designer, I have good news: Valve is looking to fill a range of new positions, and not all of them require a design portfolio.
As reported by The Loadout, Valve is advertising a number of vacancies, including a handful of positions you might not expect, including an in-house economist, a psychologist, and a statistician.
The detailed ads and person specifications offer a rare insight into Valve and its current priorities, not just in game design but in other aspects of its business, too, from human resources to data analysis.
"In order to create exceptional products that people will use and appreciate, we need to know about human behaviour and about the motivations and influences underlying how and why people do what they do," states a job advert seeking to recruit a psychologist. "We believe that all game designers are, in a sense, experimental psychologists. That is why we're looking for an experimental psychologist with superior research skills to apply knowledge and methodologies from psychology to game design and all aspects of Valve's operations.
"We want to leverage your experience with experimental design, research methods, statistics, and human behaviour to help craft even more compelling gameplay experiences for future Valve titles. We'd also expect you to research and weigh in on any and all topics that are relevant to improving the experiences of our customers, partners, and employees," it adds.
"One thing we have at Valve is data. Lots and lots of data," added another seeking an economist. "We are looking for an experienced economist to help us leverage all that information to improve our customers' experiences and make better decisions."
Think you have what it takes? Head on over to Valve's careers mini-site and submit your application. Good luck!
In other Valve news, when the developer officially unveiled Half-Life: Al late last year, there was perhaps a little scepticism that the game would manage to meet its projected March 2020 release date - perfectly understandable given the preceding twelve-year wait between series instalments. However, Valve has now confirmed it's "confident" that Al will launch on time.
That reassuring tidbit of information comes courtesy of a new AMA (short for Ask Me Anything, if you're unfamiliar) on Reddit, in which Valve's Robin Walker, Jamaal Bradley, David Feise, Greg Coomer, Corey Peters, Erik Wolpaw, Tristan Reidford, Chris Remo, Jake Rodkin, and Kaci Aitchison Boyle all answered community questions on the game.
"With the exception of some tweaks to the absolute final scene," Valve explained, "the game is done. Lots of us at Valve, as well as playtesters, have played through the entire game multiple times."
