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Longtime Leading AMD Linux GPU Driver Developer Now Working For Valve

Written by Michael Larabel in Valve on 16 May 2026 at 07:03 AM EDT. 38 Comments

It seems that Valve isn't done expanding their open-source Linux graphics driver team and securing top talent for enhancing the Linux GPU drivers for a better gaming experience. One of the foremost leading Mesa developers has left AMD to join Valve.

A sharp-eyed Phoronix reader noted that none other than Marek Olšák has joined Valve given his latest profile updates on the FreeDesktop.org GitLab.

Marek is a longtime open-source Linux GPU driver developer working on the AMD Mesa code, especially when it comes to the Radeon Gallium3D drivers. He was instrumental to the Radeon Mesa code going back to the R300g days, continuing with R600g, and now with many of the modern RadeonSI Gallium3D driver optimizations as well as core Gallium3D improvements.

In a quick check of the Phoronix news database, his work has been noted in 441 articles on Phoronix going all the way back to 2008. He started off being an independent contributor to Mesa, was involved with Google Summer of Code, and ultimately went on to working for AMD once graduating university and with the rise of AMD's open-source Linux driver activity in its early days more than a decade ago. Marek has been absolutely been a significant contributor to the success of AMD's Linux Mesa drivers over the years. He's typically among the most active contributors to Mesa overall each calendar year.

Thus after all these years working directly at AMD, it's a bit surprising to see his updated FreeDesktop.org profile reflect he's now working for Valve. Now those associated with Valve are set to dominate the Mesa Git activity logs.

Presumably at Valve he will be doing much of the same work on Mesa and the open-source AMD graphics driver code alongside Samuel Pitoiset, Timur Kristóf, and the other Valve employees and contractors. So hopefully not much will change in terms of Marek's Mesa contributions, just now with a Valve-sized paycheck. Valve has been solidly advancing the open-source Linux GPU drivers largely on the AMD side thanks to the use of custom AMD SoCs within the Steam Deck and Steam Machine.

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Michael Larabel is the principal author of Phoronix.com and founded the site in 2004 with a focus on enriching the Linux hardware experience. Michael has written more than 20,000 articles covering the state of Linux hardware support, Linux performance, graphics drivers, and other topics. Michael is also the lead developer of the Phoronix Test Suite, Phoromatic, and OpenBenchmarking.org automated benchmarking software. He can be followed via Twitter, LinkedIn, or contacted via MichaelLarabel.com.

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