Why it matters: When CEOs of massive companies try to do something funny or different, it can come off as cringeworthy, but Gabe Newell looks to be an exception to this rule. The Valve founder's vocals will appear in Dota 2 via a new voice pack, and the company has released a sketch showing him practicing his lines---along with his inability to understand the number "three."
Valve announced the voice pack at its Dota 2 The International tournament yesterday. It will be available as part of the game's Battle Pass for $10, 25 percent of which goes into The International's prize pool, which is currently at $25 million---the biggest in the history of eSports. Given how popular Gabe's deadpan voice is likely to prove with players, expect that figure to keep on rising. The winning team gets $10 million, and even the last-placed team walks away with $60,000.
Some of Newell's best lines include "Please email me at GabeN@valvesoftware.com and let me know about your rampage," and "Fundamentally, piracy is a service problem."
In the video, we see his total bewilderment at the words "triple" and "three," a reference to the still unreleased---and likely to stay that way---Half-Life 3. The best he can manage is "you've killed more than two people, and less than four."
More than a decade since Half-Life 2: Episode Two was released, the chances of ever seeing Half-Life 3 grow slimmer every passing year. We did, however, find out the plot we might have seen in Episode 3 back in 2017 when writer Marc Laidlaw posted it on his blog.
If you want to hear all of Newell's lines from the voice pack, YouTube channel DotaBoyz has compiled them into a video (below).