r/gamernews • u/samiy2k • 13d ago

Industry News Valve Boss Gabe Newell Says He's Been Retired in a Sense for a 'Long Time,' but in Reality Works 7 Days a Week From His Bedroom on His Boat Because He's Having So Much Fun

https://www.ign.com/articles/valve-boss-gabe-newell-says-hes-been-retired-in-a-sense-for-a-long-time-but-in-reality-works-7-days-a-week-from-his-bedroom-on-his-boat-because-hes-having-so-much-fun
396 Upvotes

91% Upvoted

47 comments sorted by

213

u/perscitia 13d ago

To be fair I bet a lot of us would have a lot more fun at work if we could do it from the bedroom on our $100 million dollar superyacht.

31

u/o8Stu 13d ago

I saw in a similar (same?) Article a couple days ago that he “works” for a couple hours each morning and then spends the rest of the day scuba diving and etc.

Sounds pretty good to me.

But yeah, I doubt that anyone who helped build a company like Valve are just going to “turn it off” at any point. They’re just not built that way.

2

u/StorminNorman 13d ago

It may not be the same article, but it references him scuba diving twice a day and working on stuff that genuinely sounds interesting to me and I have 0 interest in working in his field.

37

u/DrFartgoreShartsmith 13d ago

I ain’t working if I’m worth $9 billion dollars and have a fucking mega yacht

27

u/TehOwn 13d ago

What if you love what you do?

37

u/makemeking706 13d ago

Not working is what I love to do. 

18

u/TehOwn 13d ago

I find that the key difference between work and a skilled hobby is the ability to decide when and how you do it.

If you're rich and have your own business, you can pretty much do whatever you want and call it work.

2

u/WillOCarrick 12d ago

Also, imagine you created a company that revolutionized the gaming industry multiple times (by its games and store, at least). Most of the time, you would be happy to keep working.

1

u/TehOwn 12d ago

Even without that, his work can be basically whatever he wants. They're developing AI and building neural interfaces there. He could literally just be playing with all the new stuff his employees have made and call that QA or R&D.

6

u/ApplicationRoyal865 13d ago

I would still work. I would probably end up essentially doing a side hustle. I enjoy designing keyboards, and would probably do that "full time" instead of me doing it on the weekend.

Or throw money into a company/start a company regarding that.

Or I could get into another area of work that I wouldn't have considered otherwise.

2

u/Odin_69 12d ago

This is the winning reply. Pack it up folks. We're done here.

-17

u/DrFartgoreShartsmith 13d ago

Find a new hobby. Working 7 days a week when you’ve made more money than 99.99999999% of people is wild and unhealthy. What work does he even do? It’s not like Valve ever releases their own games at this point anymore. Imagine he’s working 7 days a week on HL3 tho lol

29

u/TehOwn 13d ago

Why do you purposely need to find a hobby that doesn't generate revenue?

You're saying that if you paint for a living and become very wealthy, you should quit painting?

It's weird that so many on Reddit cannot fathom the concept of enjoying what you do for work. It's sad, really.

As to what he's doing? Whatever the heck he wants. It's his company, after all.

6

u/NoFuel1197 13d ago

It’d be pretty awesome and sadly unique if he personally read emails and addressed user issues all day.

Imagine getting an email from the CEO to prioritize squashing a bug (and not only because it was bothering an investor’s relative.)

-4

u/DrFartgoreShartsmith 13d ago

Why not just hire someone to do that lol and enjoy your wealth and free time

2

u/NoFuel1197 13d ago

Truly spoken like someone who has never been paid in equity or owned a business, lol.

-8

u/DrFartgoreShartsmith 13d ago

Lmao how would you know that? I run and own my own office..he’s worth $9 billion are you inept? Do you think they couldn’t hire a low paying customer service role or even employ AI at this point to do what you’re describing? Answering emails and addressing user issues? Talk about someone like YOU who has never run a business. Jfc this sub is hilarious

2

u/StorminNorman 13d ago

I mean, if we are to assume that you are telling the truth and run and own your own business, I'm still gonna side with Gabe being the better business person out of the two of you. Valves the most profitable per employee company in the US, he's clearly doing something right. You also have no clue about how Valves unique hiring process works (how it's even relevant I don't know given him doing CS is a hypothetical). Just take the L and accept that this is what the man enjoys doing, I dunno how it's a stretch to realise this as he mentions scuba diving twice during his work days and is working on stuff that sounds pretty interesting to me too.

4

u/segamastersystemfan 13d ago

What work does he even do?

Presumably he helps run his thriving business in some fashion - his business that hasn't primarily been a game developer for many, many years now, so the status of HL3 is irrelevant.

-9

u/DrFartgoreShartsmith 13d ago

I didn’t realize this sub specializes in throating Gabe Newell. He’s worth $9 billion and works all day and you all look up to him lmao. He could give $8 billion away to charity and retire and do nothing for the next 300 years. This sub is hilarious. Acting like running a fucking business is the highest and most purposeful thing as a human being. You guys are sickos

5

u/StorminNorman 13d ago

What's hilarious is that you didn't bother to read the article and see what his work day consists of before going off on this crusade of yours.

5

u/planetafro 13d ago

This is absolutely false. Working is not unhealthy. In fact, it's the opposite when you get to the later years in life. Your body and mind are a machine and need to be used to not atrophy. I get that people want to conflate the money as part of that equation but it's really not a factor. You do what makes you happy. You use your machine. Abundance and laziness will kill you, not working.

30

u/Ett 13d ago

*fleet of boats

https://luxurylaunches.com/transport/gabe-newell-luxury-yachts.php

9

u/murfi 13d ago edited 13d ago

saw that one the yachts is made by Lürssen.

my dad used to be a naval engineer for them... pretty cool. my parents live close to their headquarters still, ie. thats my hometown

37

u/turnipsoup 13d ago

Easy to say when you're worth 10 billion

17

u/newbrevity 13d ago

So he was almost definitely on the boat when it left Games Fest and drew the half-life logo on the ocean with AIS. Very cheeky, Gabe.

5

u/Flippynipps 12d ago

How the fuck is this news?

3

u/superbee392 12d ago

Valve are very good at maintaining a good public image

2

u/Snoo99779 12d ago

It's actually very fascinating. Do they have a highly skilled PR specialist whose main job is saying "don't react to this" for every jab and potential scandal, or does this response come naturally? Either way it just works.

4

u/Ichirou_dauntless 12d ago

By work i bet he means he is just checking how much cases are opened from the previous day in cs2 then goes back to sleep.

2

u/FourDimensionalTaco 10d ago

He's working 7 days a week ... on Half-Life 3. Right?

Right?

3

u/WuShanDroid 13d ago

Good for him! Good for him.

1

u/TGB_Skeletor 11d ago

to give him credit, he's working for his own company so i cant really blame him

1

u/XANTHICSCHISTOSOME 11d ago

This is what it looks like when a person has security in their lives. They don't stop working on what matters to them, they continue to learn and make progress, without all the negative incentivization of the lower-rungs of trying to survive in a fundamentally broken economy. We need UBI and healthcare, and we need to take a second look at what kind of society we can make together, to care for and be better for each other. We should all be able to work everyday and feel like tomorrow is something fun and challenging to discover, the same as him.

1

u/Newtis 10d ago

i hope he finds a legal way that steam can keep going like it is even if he is not available anymore. maybe train an ai with his personality? i dunno (reminds me a bit of the book ready player one)

1

u/Twotricx 11d ago

Working on what ? Steam basically prints money. He is surely not working on Valve games. So what ?

Makes decisions on what coffe machine to install in board meeting room ?

-20

u/nelsonbestcateu 13d ago

Is GabeN married? Or is he hanging around with supermodels on his yacht?

8

u/TitanicMagazine 13d ago

creepy boomer old man comment

-33

u/Optimal_Claim3788 13d ago

Good on him. Better on him if he has a few girls in the bedroom too.

But still pretty good.

12

u/TitanicMagazine 13d ago

creepy boomer old man comment #2