Former Half-Life 2 writer says 10,000-person game teams “don’t work” but GTA 6 is an exception to the rule
A former Valve writer who worked on Half-Life 2 says developer teams with over 10,000 people aren’t practical, but when it comes to a AAA game like Grand Theft Auto VI, you might need one.
These words come from Chet Faliszek, who spent nearly twelve years at Valve writing for Portal, Left 4 Dead 2, and Half-Life 2 before leaving the company in 2017. In a video on his YouTube channel, he discussed the drawbacks of having a team of 10,000 developers working on a single game.
Not your typical gaming-centric YouTuber
Considering that he’s worked at Valve and has more than a decade of experience in the games industry, his opinion carries weight. He says the real cost of a big roster is indecision and backtracking, not a large headcount, and that a small team can still ship a finished game, pointing to Valve’s hit zombie co-op shooter Left 4 Dead 2. Reportedly, a small team of just 45 people created Left 4 Dead 2, which is astounding. He stated:
“We made Left 4 Dead with 45 people. I don’t think it would have been a better game if we had made it with 450 people. I think some of what we chase now in the game industry as our goals makes us create these bigger teams. But I think you need to have some oomph there. You need to have some weight to what you’re releasing. But that works best when it's made with people who are in the same room.”
He stated:
“We made Left 4 Dead with 45 people. I don’t think it would have been a better game if we had made it with 450 people. I think some of what we chase now in the game industry as our goals makes us create these bigger teams. But I think you need to have some oomph there. You need to have some weight to what you’re releasing. But that works best when it's made with people who are in the same room.”
GTA VI is an outlier given its scale
Compare that to projects like GTA VI, and it’s a whole different story. While he agrees that many video games don’t need a huge development team, GTA VI is different given the project's scale and the polish needed to ship it, which is slated for November 19, 2026.
He was asked directly why Valve doesn’t hire more people and make its games bigger, so he explained in a video:
“I just think games aren't made to be made by 10,000-person teams. These giant teams just don’t work.”
He recalled a Ubisoft artist telling him that the Assassin’s Creed publisher hired top talent, amounting to “3,500” individuals. Valve also experimented with bloated game development teams for graphics and design, but ultimately, Faliszek says, “I just don’t think you get a lot of bang for your buck.”
Furthermore, these large-scale teams tend to waste time, according to Faliszek, who said, “Really, the reason why games take so long is indecision, backtracking. Problems like that are the things that really eat up time more than just production.”
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