Gabe Newell hoarded swords, then learned knife making
Counter-Strike co-creator Minh Le recalls a phase when the Valve president collected blades, then took lessons in forging his own knives.
Minh Le, who co-created Counter-Strike, has described an unusual hobby of his former boss. Speaking to Indie Game Joe, he said Gabe Newell went through a stretch of collecting knives and axes, filling an entire room with blades and ordered a run of oversized medieval swords and axes to store there.
The collecting turned into a craft, according to Le: Newell took lessons in knife making and produced his own blades, an example of how he throws himself into whatever holds his attention. Newell keeps a low profile around Valve and Steam these days, and a former Portal 2 developer has said he stepped back from game development because colleagues kept agreeing with him.
Tags
- pc
- counter-strike-2
- dota-2
Sources
Where this story ran: one outlet on 27 September 2026. The summary above is written by GamersGuild; the links go to the original reports.
Games in this post
Counter-Strike 2
Counter-Strike 2 is a round-based tactical shooter in which two teams of five fight over objectives. Weapon purchases, economy management and map control matter as much as aim.
Dota 2
Dota 2 is a five-versus-five game in which each player controls one hero and tries to destroy the enemy base. Heroes, items and map details change with regular patches, so the game is learned over a long period.