Saw this over on NeoGaf
Jason Holtman has left Valve, Develop understands.
A reliable source has told us Valve's director of business has departed the company, although it is currently unclear as to the reasons for his exit.
The news follows the studio's decision to also fire hardware engineer Jeri Ellsworth, who had been working on prototype controllers for the upcoming Steam Box.
Gamasutra has also reported up to 25 employees have been let go from the company, mainly in the hardware and Android development divisions.
Holtman acted as one of the company's primary points of contact for devs using Valve's digital distribution platform Steam, playing a key role in developer relations at the studio, and has worked at the development giant since 2005.
The news of his departure will come as a shock to many, given has important role at the firm and the continued success of Steam, a platform driving the success of the PC games market.
Develop has contacted Valve for more details on the matter and we will update the story as soon as we learn anything.
More follows
http://www.develop-online.net/news/4...n-leaves-Valve
Update:
been just informed from a friend of mine who knows them:
Moby Francke, the art lead of TF2, is gone
Bay Raitt (lead of SFM) is gone too [Source Film Maker]
._.
Well, Bay and Moby both removed from the Employee Roster just now :(
Also has other employees who were fired.
http://forums.steampowered.com/forum...1&postcount=32
http://www.diffchecker.com/h14Uhs74
HOLY SHIT! Elan Ruskin gone!!! Tom Leonard gone!!!! Realm Lovejoy gone!!!!!!
PC Gamer Article
PDATE: Garry’s Mod creator Garry Newman tweets the appearance of a number of differences on Valve’s staff page seen through Diff Checker. The comparison tool indicates the removal of nine employee bios from the People section of Valve’s company page, listed below:
Moby Francke, Half-Life 2 character designer and Team Fortress 2 art lead
Jason Holtman, director of business development for Steam and Steamworks
Keith Huggins, character animator and animator for Team Fortress 2 “Meet the” video series
Tom Leonard, software engineer for Half-Life 2 and Left 4 Dead
Realm Lovejoy, artist for Half-Life 2, Portal, and Left 4 Dead. She was also part of the original DigiPen-turned-Valve team that created Narbacular Drop, the inspiration for Portal
Marc Nagel, test lead for Half-Life, Counter-Strike, and patch updates
Bay Raitt, animator for Half-Life 2, Team Fortress 2, and Portal
Elan Ruskin, engine programmer for Left 4 Dead, Portal 2, and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
Matthew Russell, animator for Team Fortress 2 “Meet the” video series
These are significant roles....
