8 Gaming Features That Started Life As Fan Hacks

As the Counter-Strike entry should have made clear, Valve clearly values the creations made by their fanbase using their game engines. After all, much like CS, the Team Fortress Series originally began life as a mod for Quake, before embarking on a life of its own.

The developers of the mod had been in the process of creating a standalone Team Fortress title when they were contacted by Valve, who offered them the opportunity to work with the company and create a port of Team Fortress for the company's newest title Half-Life, in a move that seems somewhat analogous to being recruited as the newest guitarist in your favourite group after starring in an acclaimed cover band.

Under the Valve umbrella, the game would eventually get an original release with 1999's Team Fortress Classic, before receiving a sequel in 2007's Team Fortress 2 that was included in The Orange Box bundle for Xbox 360.

So, what have we learned? If you were looking to get a job at Valve around the turn of the Millenium, all you had to do was make a wildly successful mod to one of their games and you're hired. Not exactly the most repeatable formula, but it sure beats writing endless cover letters to still never get a response.