Ex-Valve Staff Recalls Gabe Newell's Five-Month Throat Singing Phase
The same profile that makes Newell obsessive about hobby projects is the one Le credits with carrying Steam through internal skepticism, tying his office eccentricities to the product he is known for.
Key Facts
- Minh Le, a former Valve employee and co-creator of Counter-Strike, said Gabe Newell's throat-singing phase lasted about five months.
- Newell took up the Mongolian vocal technique khoomei after watching a documentary, according to Minh Le.
- Employees at Valve closed their office doors because of the noise from Newell singing in the hallways, Minh Le said.
- Valve senior developer Charlie Brown recalled Newell singing Tuvan throat singing in the Half-Life 2 20th anniversary documentary, released in November 2024.
- A singing Vortigaunt in Half-Life 2 was recorded during the period when Newell was practicing throat singing.
Reporting from 2 sources: Automaton, Game Spark.
Gabe Newell, the Valve co-founder and Steam figurehead, spent about five months practicing throat singing inside the company's offices, according to former Valve staffer and Counter-Strike co-creator Minh Le. Le discussed Newell's habits in a conversation with game consultant Indie Game Joe. Newell took up the Mongolian vocal technique khoomei after watching a documentary, then sang it while walking the hallways, prompting employees to close their office doors, Le said. He recalled that many staff were annoyed. Le also described Newell as "really eccentric" and said Newell throws himself into anything that sparks his curiosity. Le cited a separate phase in which Newell collected medieval swords and axes and eventually took lessons to make his own knives, and he pointed to Steam's creation as evidence of Newell's long-term vision.
The throat-singing anecdote had surfaced before. Valve senior developer Charlie Brown recalled it in the Half-Life 2 20th anniversary documentary released in November 2024, describing a noisy office where staff rode scooters down the hallways and, in the middle of it, Newell sang Tuvan throat singing.
The habit left a mark on the games themselves. A singing Vortigaunt appears in Half-Life 2, and that voice was recorded during the stretch when Newell was absorbed in throat singing. The Half-Life 2 development period and the singing phase overlapped, which places both more than 20 years ago and explains why testimony keeps surfacing from multiple people who worked at Valve. Le's account matches Brown's on the volume and duration, though only Le names the five-month span and the documentary that started it.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 2 cited sources below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.