Valve famously claims to have a flat org structure with no managers, but by all accounts from former employees there's absolutely an implicit power structure and you won't last long there if you don't fall in line.

It's especially hard to reconcile "the staff work on whatever they want" with "Valve almost exclusively makes profit-optimized live-service lootbox dispensers now". I doubt the artists who joined the Half Life and Portal company found their true calling in churning out lootbox fodder.

This can easily be changed if Gabe Newell dies, commits a crime, or gets divorced, his estate or trust wants a change in direction, a lawsuit costs Steam a ton of money and they need to get cash quick, take your pick.