This year, competition in Silicon Valley didn’t stop at app purchases and user experience upgrades. The competitive spirit took the streets, or exquisite party venues to be more accurate.

With an employee count of 8,000+, throwing a holiday bash isn’t easy. Facebook reserved the entire AT&T Park in San Francisco. From the San Francisco Giants mascot, Lou Seal, to a beer pong tournament, the party left attendees with plenty to post on Facebook’s newly purchased Instagram. The party rocked on through the night with a band that played on demand for those who were interested in some karaoke, and another jazz band that added a chill mood to the extravagant night.

But you know what tops a party at a stadium? One at a science museum. Yes, that’s exactly where Twitter brought the jingle to the bells. The blue bird company reserved the San Francisco Exploratorium Science Museum for an entire night with a huge illuminated sign that urged the employees to #CELEBRATE.

Although no clear figures have been shared about this year’s celebration, last year Twitter paid the city of San Francisco $73,100 to rent City Hall for a holiday party, in addition to an estimated $290,000 spent on food and drinks. That is of course excluding the addition expenses of photography, the lavish decorations and the various forms of entertainment.

Google planned a series of parties for each department. Google Chrome and Google Search each celebrated separately at the City Hall, leasing the venue once for $38,028 for 1,500 people, and another time for $56,059 for 3,000, according to the city records .

The Android team attending their party aboard the USS Hornet in San Francisco's East Bay.

Across the many Google parties, the entertainment schemes varied between Indiana Jone photo booths, a giant snow globe where employees could take photos inside, a giant snowman decorating the bar and a Cirque Du Soleil performance. Try to beat that for entertainment.

Analysts say that the holiday extravaganza might be the companies way of retaining the talented brains behind their success.

It goes without saying that what goes up must come down, and we’ve already seen it happen with Wall Street's parties, which all faded after the financial crisis. This leaves me to wonder how long before Silicon Valley’s ego settles and who will take that spotlight next?