Valve hires former Plants vs Zombies devs

Update - Doug Lombardi of Valve confirmed that Semple and Gates have been hired, but offered a clarification: "This is probably better categorized as Valve hiring two new employees instead of an acquisition of a company or opening of a Valve SF office."

Original Story - An indie start-up composed of former PopCap developers has been acquired by Valve. The developer Star Filled Studios was just composed of two men: Jeff Gates and Tod Semple, both of whom formerly worked at PopCap. Semple says they're opening a new office in San Francisco.

Valve co-founder Gabe Newell confirmed the acquisition, telling Edge : "The guys who did PvZ, down in the Bay Area, we're helping them set up a Valve subsidiary there."

The studio site also references work on high-profile titles at Maxis, LucasArts, and Blizzard. The two were working at PopCap's San Carlos office until they were made redundant in August by the company layoffs . They went on to form SFS in September.

Valve's last acquisition was in 2008, when it took on Turtle Rock Studios . That led to the company getting behind Left 4 Dead and then closing the studio before it reopened as independent in 2009. Valve didn't give word on what Star Filled Studios will be working on.