http://www.valvesoftware.com/news/
March 31, 2011
"Best possible opportunity for amazing innovation"
March 31, 2011 - Valve® today announced the hiring of renowned animator Brad Bird as part of its new "Dream Team" of filmmakers, screenwriters, graphic artists, cartoonists, and other artists currently outside the game industry.
"When we first saw The Iron Giant, we knew that Brad held a lot of potential," said Gabe Newell, president of Valve. "When we saw The Incredibles, we knew we had to have him. It took us seven years of pleading, but he finally said yes."
Bird added, "With all these years of animation behind me, I guess I must be doing something. They wanted me to come in and bust a few moves. That's exactly what's happening with me and [everyone else]. It's been a great ride so far."
Bird was hired along with several other filmmakers in what Valve announced as "Phase One" of the Dream Team process. He has already begun by introducing new design and gameplay elements in an upcoming update to Team Fortress 2. Newell continued, "This is going to be one crazy year for Valve. We can't wait to show you who else we have up our sleeves and what that means for gaming."
About Valve
Valve is an entertainment software and technology company founded in 1996 and based in Bellevue, Washington. The company's portfolio of entertainment properties includes Half-Life®, Counter-Strike®, Day of Defeat®, Team Fortress®, PortalTM and Left 4 DeadTM. Valve's catalog of products accounts for over 35 million retail units sold worldwide, and over 80% of PC online action gameplay. In addition, Valve is a developer of leading-edge technologies, such as the Source game engine and Steam, a broadband platform for the delivery and management of digital content. For more information, please visit www.valvesoftware.com.
