Who is Gabe Newell? History of success

Every gamer can say with confidence who is Gabe Newell. This genius of computer games has achieved tremendous success in all his endeavors. In his hands is concentrated power over one of the most famous and profitable studios - Valve Corporation. To date, Gabe Newell is among the richest people in the world according to the Forbes magazine. His company is worth about $ 3 million, and half of this money belongs to the developer personally.

Biography

This multimillionaire was born on November 3, 1962. Little is known about the childhood and youth of the developer. One thing is clear: Newell was still a child with a sufficiently developed mind, thanks to which he entered Harvard University after graduation. But he was not destined to get a scientific degree, because at that time the whole world was fond of computer technologies that were gaining popularity, and Gabe was no exception and gave his time to this science. At the risk of his future, Newell abandons his studies and takes a job in an unknown company at the time Microsoft. Ultimately, this decision brings him millions of dollars.

Valve Corporation

After working at Bill Gates for 13 years and inspired by the success of Michael Abrash, who had previously left the corporation and created his own Quake project, Gabe Newell decides to go on a free-floating journey. In 1996, together with his friend Mike Harrington, who also worked for Microsoft, he creates his own small computer game development studio called Valve. Then this small corporation was not known to anyone, and investors were not in a hurry to invest their means in it, afraid to get burned. Therefore, Gabe and Mike had to part with their money to fund their first development.

Buying the engine Quake engine, they greatly reworked it, and already on this basis created their first masterpiece Half-Life, released in 1998. The game became an unquestionable hit, and it's no wonder that the company started developing the second part of the series. After its creation, the world learned who Gabe Newell is. Based on this engine, such popular modifications and games as Team Fortress Classic and Counter-Strike were born. In 2000, after receiving impressive monetary compensation, Mike Harrington left the company Valve, and the sole owner of this already well-known studio is Gabe.

Valve Games

If we talk about who is Gabe Newell, we can not fail to mention the games that he created. In addition to the Half-Life series, the studio Valve has become famous for many more high-profile projects. The most popular of them will be discussed next. Let's start with the favorite shooter of all gamers - Counter-Strike. This multiplayer game was released in 1999 as a modification to Half-Life and became famous for its network mode. If you have a desire to shoot terrorists and have fun with your friends, then you can safely run this old, but still popular game, on the grid. Another hit, which released the studio Valve - a game in the style of the zombie apocalypse Left 4 Dead. This shooter with elements of survival horror, released in 2008, won the title of "Game of the Year." Not surprisingly, after a short time, there was a continuation, which acquired a corporate regime.

Masterpieces of the game industry

Do you like intellectual puzzles? If so, then you should wander through the mazes Portal. Thanks to its original story, excellent music and graphics, this game won more than 70 awards and at one time held the lead in sales. The puzzle was released by the studio in 2007, and in 2011 there was a sequel that surpassed the popularity of the first part of the game. Another brainchild of the studio Valve, which heard almost everything - Dota 2. This multiplayer game since its release (2013) has won millions of fans around the world. From this moment the photo of Gabe became the object of worship of every gamer. To date, there is eSports with a huge prize pool, where people from all over the world compete in Dota 2, and that says a lot. These games have glorified their creator, but this is not all that this developer was doing.

Steam

Another brainchild who can tell who Gabe Newell is is the world-famous service for selling games and software, which appeared in 2003. Through Steam, its products are distributed not only by Valve Studio, but also by other well-known developers such as id Software, GSC Game World, Rockstar Games, THQ, Capcom, 2K Games, Atari, Ubisoft, Eidos Interactive, Bethesda Softworks, 1C and others. Statistics, this service sells about 10 thousand games a year.

Initially Steam was conceived to simplify the updating of computer games, in particular Counter-Strike, because at that time any gamer could not be allowed to battles if the version of his game is outdated. But very quickly, Gabe came to the conclusion that the sale of software through such a service - is a gold mine. Initially, you could buy games only studio Valve, but in 2005, the catalog of virtual products has expanded significantly. Steam quickly gained popularity, already in 2007 this service acquired a new system, focused on the social component of the community. Through the Steam Community, users from all over the world can communicate, create their own groups and invite their friends to the games. To date, this service is the main leader, leaving competitors far behind.