The retail giant is offering Valve’s founder a crash course in basic arithmetic.
GameStop has launched a sharp-witted marketing campaign that leans into one of the gaming world’s most enduring memes. In a message styled as a formal legal notice, the retailer has extended a polite yet firm demand for Valve’s founder to finally master the number three, offering their own expertise to help him reach that milestone.
Serving as “irrefutable evidence” of their own mathematical prowess, the company highlighted the return of its signature “Buy 2, Get 1 Free” promotion.
“This promotion explicitly showcases our proficiency in counting to three. You buy two items, get one for free, and that makes three. As you can see, the math is simple. We are confident you can figure it out as well.”
Closing the letter on a satirical note, the retailer warned that a failure to acknowledge the number three could lead to “continued public mockery of your arithmetic skills and a potential nationwide ban from all GameStop storefronts.”
The long-standing joke regarding Gabe Newell’s “inability to count to three” has been a fixture of gaming culture for over a decade. This stems from the fact that none of Valve’s legendary franchises—including Half-Life, Portal, Left 4 Dead, and Team Fortress—have ever received a third numbered installment.
Source: iXBT.games