Valve considers UK office after Luxembourg expansion

Valve is looking at opening a UK office.

The firm is currently sounding out the British development scene at the Develop in Brighton conference, and is looking at the potential viability of a local office in the country.

UK developers could also work at its Seattle office or in a newly set up Luxembourg studio.

The studio famous for its Steam retail platform and titles like Half-Life is exhibiting at the Develop Conference this week and has been sharing its plans with some attendees.

The new European office, which quietly opened last year, currently houses around five staff focusing on Steam and working with its development partners.

Develop was told this morning that if the studio, Valve’s first foray into the European industry, proves to be a success it could eventually be expanded into a fully-fledged development team.

Valve staff said Luxembourg was the ideal place for its expansion as it was based centrally in Europe, and provides easier accessibility to European developers than its US operations in Seattle, as well as being in a more ideal time zone.

Luxembourg is also home to the HQs of a number of other online companies, such as Amazon, and is controversially known as a tax shelter for larger businesses.