Is the V club that runs Steam really a "small workshop"?

The number of employees and salary of V company are exposed: 336 employees support the Steam empire

In a world-class gaming company, we usually imagine thousands of employees, shouldering the heavy responsibilities of development, operation and management. However, the court documents recently revealed that the mystery of the status and compensation of V Club has been lifted, and it is surprising to find that the giant has only 336 employees.

The number of employees is only 336, and the platform is operated by only 79 people

According to the disclosed documents, as of 2021, V has four departments: administration (35 people), game development (181 people), hardware (41 people) and platform operation (79 people). Among them, the number of employees in platform operation is staggering, with less than 100 people responsible for the operation of tens of millions of online users worldwide.

The platform operation staff is insufficient and the salary is not high

Wolfire Games, in its antitrust lawsuit, accused V of being careless in its most important part of platform operations. The data in the document also seems to support this view. In 2021, the platform operations department's total compensation was only $70 million, the second-lowest among the four departments. By comparison, the administrative department's compensation was as high as $150 million.

Salaries in the game development department have increased significantly

The document also shows that salaries in the gaming division suddenly spiked to $221 million in 2017. This may have been to support the development of new games like Artifact. And given the success of Steam Deck in recent years, it's not hard to guess that V has recruited more employees for the hardware division.

Amazing profitability per capita

Despite the small number of employees, V's profitability is impressive. In the employee handbook, V's company has mentioned that its "per capita profitability is higher than that of Google, Microsoft and Amazon". Judging from the information leaked so far, at least on this point, V's statement is true.

Small number of employees, but efficient

Although the number of employees of V Club is small, it is very efficient. The fact that only 336 employees can support the Steam empire is a testament to the excellent management and organizational ability of V Club. The company has maintained a low-key and secretive style for many years, and now the staff data revealed again confirms this characteristic.