Forbes Lists Gabe Newell As One of the "Names You Need to Know in 2011" - Games

[quote] This post is part of an ambitious project to crowd-source the December issue of Forbes Magazine. Click here to submit your own ideas for “Names You Need to Know in 2011.” Digital download unit sales of PC videogames overtook unit sales from physical retail stores in the first half of 2010, according to a report from research firm NPD Group. If the writing’s on the wall for the dominance of the digital distribution of PC games, then Gabe Newell is the one holding the pen. By one industry estimate, Newell’s Steam Web storefront accounts for 70% of the digital distribution market for videogames. There are currently 1,200 PC and Mac game titles on Steam, which has lined up most of the major publishers like Activision and Electronic Arts. The company recently said it had passed more than 30 million active user accounts on Steam. This has not made Newell popular with videogame retailers, who are seeing declining sales. Newell is the co-founder and president of Valve Corporation, the developer behind popular game franchises like Half-Life and Portal as well as the operator of Steam. A Microsoft Millionaire, Newell quit the Bill Gates empire to found Valve in 1996 in Bellingvue, Washington, with fellow ex-Microsoft employee Mike Harrington. Valve’s Steam, boasts Newell, is on track to record its biggest year ever in terms of sales and in the last 12 months, has seen sales growth of more than 200%. While Valve is tight-lipped about its revenues, when Forbes profiled the company at the end of 2005, it was already on track to surpass $70 million in revenue that year, doing $55 million in operating profit. Newell says the company has continued to grow in the past six years, so I’m guess-timating that annual revenue figure is much, much higher now, at the very least in the hundreds of millions if not more. And Newell continues to iterate. Steam early on allowed users to promote and sell “mods” or modified versions of existing games at its marketplace. Recently, Valve introduced a marketplace for user-created virtual items. Meanwhile, videogame console-makers like Microsoft and Sony long ago took a page from Steam. Both companies now have online networks through which they sell games, movies and music via digital distribution. Microsoft’s Xbox Live now takes in more than $600 million in annual revenue from sales of digital goods.[/quote] [url]http://blogs.forbes.com/oliverchiang/2010/11/13/names-you-need-to-know-in-2011-gabe-newell/?partner=yahootix[/url]

Impressive.

:patriot: Go Gabe!

Cool.

Just you know what to call that thing that's blocking the sun. Just kidding Gabe, you're awesome.

Gabe is god

When i grow up i want to be just like Gabe :buddy:

Out of the 1,200 titles on steam, probably like 800 of them are Railworks.

[QUOTE=booster;26041698]Out of the 1,200 titles on steam, probably like 800 of them are Railworks.[/QUOTE] Ahahaha. So true.

[QUOTE=Soul-Chicken;26041697]When i grow up i want to be just like Gabe :buddy:[/QUOTE] [img]http://www.ps3blog.net/wp-content/uploads/1217987587911.jpg[/img]

newell for best game company executive 2010

Gabe Newell must be rolling in dough. Metaphorically and literally.

Was inevitable.

Gabe for president.

[QUOTE=Soul-Chicken;26041697]When i grow up i want to be just like Gabe :buddy:[/QUOTE] grow sideways you mean

I will be there will all my money during valve's IPO. (If they do decide to go that way)

[QUOTE=booster;26041698]Out of the 1,200 titles on steam, probably like 800 of them are Railworks.[/QUOTE] How do they keep track of that many titles?

[QUOTE=Ubercharged;26058532]How do they keep track of that many titles?[/QUOTE] How could they not? Valve probably have a list of game uploaded to steam and whats going to be up for download.

Maybe retail stores wouldn't have declining PC game sales if they didn't shove the all the PC games on one shelf in some dark corner of the store :downs:

Valve are the gods of gaming.

Someone will make an Ep.3 release conspiracy out of this. Telling ya.

If you haven't read it yet. [url]http://gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2010/11/14/gabe-newell-name-youll-need-to-know.aspx[/url]

[B]"What's not to like?"[/B] [img]http://uppix.net/7/5/1/c5b0d0c30139f8ae3a629cb8f58cb.jpg[/img]

[QUOTE=Soul-Chicken;26041697]When i grow up i want to be just like Gabe :buddy:[/QUOTE] Fat jokes incoming...Oh well, too late.

[QUOTE=Soul-Chicken;26041697]When i grow up i want to be just like Gabe :buddy:[/QUOTE] So you want to be obese and delay video games everyone wants more than anything other game? :smith:

[QUOTE=Diet Kane;26069828][B]"What's not to like?"[/B] [img_thumb]http://uppix.net/7/5/1/c5b0d0c30139f8ae3a629cb8f58cb.jpg[/img_thumb][/QUOTE] it's just not the same gabe is fucking santa just without the beard and the hat and the ability to go down chimneys

Gabe is very good at his job, he's one of the reasons why Valve is awesome - he's awesome.

[QUOTE=BrickInHead;26117948]it's just not the same gabe is fucking santa just without the beard and the hat and the ability to go down chimneys[/QUOTE] Gabe should dress up as Santa and make a picture of him and his bags of discount vouchers for steam games

Hopefully after nine years in development it will be worth it.

[QUOTE=BrickInHead;26117948]it's just not the same gabe is fucking santa just without the beard and the hat and the ability to go down chimneys[/QUOTE] he gives you a present but you have to pay for the key to open it