Valve, Steam & the Entire PC Gaming Industry Were Saved by a Single Intern
Steam, Portal, Left 4 Dead, Team Fortress 2 – all of those wouldn't have been possible if it wasn't for a pure stroke of luck.
In case you missed the news, Half-Life 2 has recently celebrated its 20th birthday, and to commemorate the occasion, Valve released a new documentary dedicated to one of, if not the most influential first-person shooter of all time, sharing a ton of insights regarding its history, development, and the state of the company during the early 2000s.
Amidst the numerous interesting facts about Valve shared in the documentary, one particular tidbit captured the attention of fans, as it suggested that Steam, Portal, Left 4 Dead, Team Fortress 2, Dota 2, and, frankly speaking, the entire PC gaming industry as we know it today, wouldn't have been possible if it wasn't for a single Korean-speaking intern, a summer associate, and an unsung hero named Andrew.
Proving that real life is filled with moments that would make pretentious film critics roll their eyes and exclaim, "How convenient," the story goes like this: In 2002, Valve filed a lawsuit against its then-publisher Sierra Entertainment, owned by a French mass-media holding company Vivendi, over the latter's licensing of Counter-Strike to cyber cafes, something Valve wasn't deeply bothered about but just wanted Sierra to acknowledge that it fell outside the scope of their licensing agreement.
