Gabe Newell is going to Australia

Written by Joe Martin

October 2, 2009 | 11:07

Tags: #boycott #gabe #left-4-dead #left4dead

Companies: #valve

Valve has confirmed today that Gabe Newell and Erik Johnson will honour plans to visit a Left 4 Dead modder in order to preview his new campaign after the fan raised $3,000 USD to pay for the trip.

The plan for the trip arose from a joke between the modder, Joe W-A, and Gabe Newell when Joe complained that he hadn't been flown to Seattle to preview Left 4 Dead 2 like some boycotters had been. Joe W-A said he should be flown to Valve HQ in order to show the Valve team his new Left 4 Dead mod. Newell replied however saying that Valve had decided to boycott the mod, with Joe asking if this meant he had to fly Gabe out to visit his house.

No, said Newell. You've got to fly project lead Erik Johnson out as well.

Since then Joe W-A has raised the required $3,000 USD to pay for the flights and record the event, with surplus funds being donated to the Child's Play charity which provides computer games and toys for children in hospitals across the world.

Valve's announcement indicates that Gabe and Erik will honour the agreement, even though it arose out of nothing but playfulness. While the official press release doesn't indicate this, it's also being reported that Valve has refused the $3,000 and decided to pay for itself so that the full amount can be donated to charity.

"The power of the gaming community and their ability to rally around a cause - be it serious or fun in nature - is amazing," Newell said.

"In 2003, the community helped the FBI and European law enforcement officials find the people who stole the Half-Life 2 source code. This year, the community is putting me on a plane to the other side of the world to meet Joe W-A and see his mod. It's going to be a fun trip."

Valve will be blogging about the trip and posting their impressions on the mod via the official Left 4 Dead blog, but you can let us know your thoughts in the forums.
Discuss this in the forums
YouTube logo
MSI MPG Velox 100R Chassis Review

October 14 2021 | 15:04

TOP STORIES

SUGGESTED FOR YOU