Above: Valve’s new prototype VR controllers. Image Credit: GamesBeat/Jeffrey Grubb
I hadn’t even considered the possibility that Gabe Newell would be joining us.
When Valve invited me to its office last week for a series of roundtable interviews, the company made it clear that I wasn’t going to learn about Half-Life 3. “No new announcements,” Valve communications boss Doug Lombardi explained to me in a message. What Lombardi didn’t have to tell me, however, is that I wasn’t going to get to speak with Valve founder Gabe Newell. I already knew that.
So I admit that when Newell walked into the large conference room that overlooks Bellevue, Washington at Valve’s headquarters, I was a bit surprised. And then I was even more shocked when he sat down at the table and prepared to field questions from me and a group of about a dozen other reporters as part of our session on Valve’s efforts with virtual reality.
Newell’s presence didn’t stun me due to his star power — although I think it’s fair to feel that way. The luminary founded Valve and led the teams that would create Half-Life, Half-Life 2, and the Steam PC gaming platform. That distribution service is now responsible for a significant portion of all PC gaming sales, and it generates billions of dollars in revenue for that market.
No, I was surprised because Valve is not a company that typically opens up to reporters, and it rarely offers Newell for interviews. It’s something of an old inside joke among journalists that reaching out to Valve for a comment is pointless. No one at the company is going to respond (although, to be fair, that’s not true in my experience despite this meme). So it’s already a big deal for Valve to open up and give reporters a chance to ask questions — and it’s something else entirely for Newell to join in on that.
But Newell did open up. And as I observed the industry veteran responding to questions or fiddling with a pen while other Valve employees carried on about the state of VR industry or the next generation of SteamVR controllers, I heard a number of open and plainly honest answers. And I learned a lot about this revered company and its enigmatic captain.
Valve knows you crave communication
For the last session of the day, Newell and long-time Valve employee Erik Johnson fielded questions about Valve as a company. And as he had done earlier as part of the VR panel, Newell dominated the discussion. But he opened this time by answering the question that I think all of the reporters in attendance were wondering: “Why did Valve invite us here for these interviews?”
Well, because of you.
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Source: Venture Beat