Valve's Gabe Newell’s billionaire status doesn’t render him immune from Dota 2's trash talk

Valve’s co-founder and president, Gabe Newell, also known as GabeN, took to the opening ceremony of The International 2025 and addressed fans in a pre-recorded message about how even he gets flamed once a week whenever he queues for a match of Dota 2, with messages like “hey noob, uninstall the game.”

The International 2025, the 14th edition of the prestigious Dota 2 tournament, kicked off on September 11, 2025, at Hamburg’s Barclays Arena in Germany, attracting 100,000 viewers online and featuring high-stakes matches starting with Xtreme Gaming going up against Tundra Esports.

The International 2025’s prize pool exceeds $2.6 million this year, with Valve providing the base $1.6 million with an additional $1 million infusion from fan contributions via the in-game compendium. The tournament ran through group stages, which began on September 3 and will climax with the grand finals on September 14, with 16 top teams battling it out in a double-elimination playoff format.

During the International’s opening ceremony, things kicked off with a pre-recorded message from GabeN, supposedly from one of his multi-million dollar yachts, where he talked about playing Dota 2 and getting flamed despite being 62 years old.

Gabe Newell stated:

“Hi, I’m Gabe Newell. 14 years ago, we held the first International in Cologne, Germany. For me, that first International was awesome. It was awesome to see the skill of the players and the enthusiasm of the community.

Before the first International, I really enjoyed the game. But after The International, I loved the game. It’s not just the game I love, but the community. Sure, people talk s**t at me in chat, and about once a week, people say, ‘hey noob, uninstall the game and (censored).

But that’s really about their enthusiasm, and the energy that they bring, and that’s why, after all these years, I still play Dota every day.

Now, we’re back in Germany once more to cheer and celebrate again. (In German) Oh man, this is going to be so much fun.

To all the Dota fans who’ve been with us from day one, to those of you who’ve joined us along the way, and to any of you who are tuning in for the first time, welcome to The International.”

Despite GabeN’s immense wealth, conservatively estimated at a staggering $9 billion stemming largely from Valve’s online storefront Steam and critical masterpieces such as Half-Life, he remains ingrained with gaming culture and plays games regularly. He revealed back in March 2025 that he’s played Stalker 2 four times and was trying to figure out what to play next.