Gabe Newell Had a Room Full of Swords, Says CS Co-Creator

Counter-Strike co-creator Minh 'Gooseman' Le reveals Gabe Newell's wild hobby: collecting medieval swords and even learning knife-making.

Ever wonder what a billionaire Valve co-founder does in his spare time? According to Counter-Strike co-creator Minh 'Gooseman' Le, Gabe Newell once had a room full of knives, blades, and swords. Yes, really.

Le recently appeared on the Indie Game Joe podcast, where he shared stories from his time working at Valve. He recalled how Newell got really into collecting bladed weapons. "I remember one time he got into knives," Le said. "He started collecting knives and axes. He had this whole room full of knives and blades and swords and sh**. Just some crazy sh**. He would just have this room and order all these biga** medieval swords and axes, and he would just put them in the room. He became this collector of bladed weapons."

But Newell didn't stop at just collecting. According to Le, he also took up knife making. "After that, he got into knife making," Le added. "He would start to make these knives. He would go and take lessons on how to make knives, and he got really into it." So not only did he amass a huge collection, he learned the craft himself. Talk about dedication.

Le explained that this is just how Newell operates. "He would find these little interesting things and get super into it. He'd get super drawn into these. I guess he just had a lot of time on his hands, and he was very curious. He wanted to explore things, he was a learner, and he never stopped learning. You kind of see that in what he's doing now."

These days, Newell isn't as hands-on with Valve and Steam's daily operations. Some speculated that his yacht and blade hobbies might be why, but a former Portal 2 developer recently said Newell "stepped back" from game development because people kept agreeing with him. Either way, it's clear Gabe has always marched to the beat of his own drum.

So there you have it: the man behind Steam and Half-Life is also a blade enthusiast who once turned a room into an armory. What do you think of Gabe's unexpected hobby? Would you take up knife-making if you had the time? Let us know in the comments!