Valve co-founder and president Gabe Newell has given one of his famously rare interviews with New Zealand ’ s 1 News. In it, he discusses his admiration for the island area, where he recently applied for residency after having sheltered there during the COVID-19 pandemic. He besides used the interview to confirm that Valve does indeed have new games in development ( though he declined to offer more details ) and cover rumors that the party plans to set up an function in New Zealand .
by and large it just seems like Newell is having an absolutely adorable time live in a country that hasn ’ t reported any COVID-19 deaths since September last year. He says he ’ second been attending motorsport races and pursuing an concern in neuroscience, all while Valve employees back in the US have been stuck at home for months on goal. Unsurprisingly, although Newell recently denied reports that Valve is actively planning to set up an position in the country, he says there ’ s been “ potent interest ” from the company ’ south employees to relocate .
“ It ’ s fun to ship games ”
“ There ’ s a draw of interest at a supergrass roots level inside of the company to have some people move, ” Newell says, adding that New Zealand ’ s public health infrastructure is now “ critically valuable ” for a company in the old age of a pandemic.

“ It ’ sulfur as if there ’ s a new chemical element that ’ randomness been discovered called ‘ not-stupidium ’, and New Zealand is one of the universe ’ mho producers of it — it ’ s actually something that ’ second been built by the people of New Zealand, ” Newell says, “ It ’ s absolutely, insanely valuable — like, any high-tech company would say our people are going to be a distribute more productive in New Zealand than they are going to be in Ireland or Los Angeles or lots of other places. ”

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inevitably, the interview touches on future games for Valve ’ s Half-Life and Portal franchises. Although Newell declined to offer claim details ( “ I ’ ve successfully not spoken about those things for a farseeing time and I hope to continue to not talk about them until they are moot questions. ” ), he did confirm that the company has games in development. “ It ’ s fun to ship games, ” he said .
It might not be much, but it ’ sulfur reassuring that a studio apartment with such an enviable back catalog of titles even has plans to release more games in the future — not least because Valve acquired Firewatch developer Campo Santo in 2018, after it teased its impressive-looking follow-up, In the Valley of Gods. death year, Valve made its long-awaited come back to single-player games with the excellent VR-exclusive half life : Alyx, with some employees reporting that its development had got the studio ’ s “ agitation and creative juices flowing ” to release more games .
You can check out the full consultation on 1 News .