Valve Employees Doubtened Steam Success Prior to Launch, Says CS Creator

Back then, the internet did not work so fast, and downloading a game took an entire day.

Today, Steam is an extremely popular service, and many accuse Valve of holding a monopoly on the PC market. However, the creators of this service did not have much faith in it many years ago and never imagined they would achieve such results.

Original Counter-Strike creator Minh “Gooseman” Le recently gave an interview. During a conversation with YouTube channel host Indie Game Joe, he discussed how Valve viewed Steam.

The new service was created amid problems with publisher Sierra, the company that released Half-Life, Counter-Strike, and Team Fortress. Minh Le explained that a negative experience working with the publisher inspired Gabe Newell to find a solution that would eliminate the need to deal with them:

I think Gabe was the guy who came out and said, “Screw all these publishers,” because he had, let’s say, a rocky relationship—that is probably common knowledge by now. So, I think it is safe to talk about it now. Anyway, Valve was working with Sierra back then, which was their publisher. But working with Sierra turned out to be such an unpleasant experience that it left a very bitter aftertaste for Gabe, and he just decided, “That’s it, I never want to deal with publishers again.” And that is when he came up with the idea to create Steam—essentially making a digital storefront where Valve could sell its games directly.

Minh Le shared that many people at Valve, including his colleagues, had severe doubts and asked questions like “Will this work?” In the early 2000s, the internet was not nearly as fast as it is now, and downloading a game like Half-Life took an entire day:

This was around 2001 to 2002, and the internet back then was garbage, very slow. And games were bought in regular stores: you had to go and get a physical disc. There was no such thing as “downloading games.” I remember my brother and my friends, who were used to buying games on physical media, thinking [about Steam]: “What is this? This is never going to work.” We were saying things like, “It takes us a whole day just to download Half-Life.” We did not think the internet would become what it is today so quickly.

Image source: Wallpaper Engine community on Steam

Also during the conversation with Indie Game Joe, Minh Le recalled Gabe Newell’s hobbies. At a certain point, the Valve boss started singing, which greatly annoyed the employees.

Related articles