Gabe Newell says he plays Dota 2 every day even when chat tells him to ‘uninstall & die’

Valve president Gabe Newell is going viral for the cheeky speech he gave at The International, saying he still plays Dota 2 even though other players “talk sh*t” to him.

Gabe Newell is the co-founder, president, and face of Valve, a gaming company that’s most famous for titles like Portal, Half-Life, Team Fortress 2, and of course, creating the gaming platform Steam.

Valve is also responsible for making Dota 2, a MOBA that competes with titles like League of Legends for popularity in the genre. Much like other competitive games, Dota 2 has a world championship competition, which it has dubbed The International.

This year marks the 14th iteration of The International, and Valve prez Gabe Newell showed up at the opening ceremonies to make some remarks about Dota at one of esports’ most important
events of the year.

Gabe Newell still queues up even when players trash talk him

During his speech, Newell admitted that he grew to “love” the game after The International kicked off when he witnessed the skills of its professional players in a competitive environment.

“Fourteen 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,” he said. “Before that 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,” he continued. “Sure, people talk sh*t at me in chat, and about once a week people say, ‘Hey noob, uninstall the game and die.’ But that’s really about their enthusiasm for the game, and the energy that they bring. That’s why after all these years, I still play Dota every day.”

Commenters couldn’t help but laugh at his humorous anecdote about his in-game experiences, with one writing on X: “Gabe getting trash talked in his own game while probably thinking, ‘I could ban all of you right now.'”

“Bro made Steam and still can’t escape being called mid,” another joked.

“Imagine flaming someone in DOTA only to realize it’s Gaben himself lol,” yet another posited.

Gabe getting trash talked in his own game while probably thinking I could ban all of you right now

— Hopper (@zeroXhope) September 11, 2025

This year, The International is taking place in Hamburg, Germany, pitting eight teams of professional Dota players against each other for the chance at taking home one of the most coveted titles in esports history.

Newell’s comments about his passion for Dota aren’t surprising to fans; in fact, Valve employees have stated in interviews that his unofficial motto is “Why play any other game when Dota2 exists?”