Gabe Newell, the head of Valve and Steam, spoke in an interview about his daily routine and explained that his work feels like he has been retired for years.
Who is Gabe Newell?
- Gabe Newell is one of the founders and the current CEO of Valve, the company behind Steam and the developer studio of games like Half-Life, Portal, and Counter-Strike.
- Newell is particularly popular among gamers for his closeness to the gaming community, for example, he gifted a fan dozens of autographs.
- Newell is also appreciated for consistently providing interesting insights into the work of Valve and the gaming industry, such as when he mentioned that many gaming companies believed Steam would fail.
Now Gabe Newell has talked in an interview on YouTube about his daily life and shares what a typical day in the life of the Valve CEO looks like.
Gabe works 7 days a week but is basically retired
What does Gabe Newell say in the interview? The interview discusses what Gabe Newell’s daily routine looks like. He explains: I get up, I work, I go diving, work a bit more, [then] I either go for a second dive or I go to the gym and train. I live on a boat, so I just hang out with everyone on the boat. After that, I work.
Newell elaborates that he actually works every weekday, but enjoys his work, which is why it feels like retirement to him:
I work seven days a week: I work from my bedroom, as you can see. I enjoy working, it’s fun, it doesn’t feel like work to me. The things I get to do every day are super awesome. I’ve said it before, but when you retire, you want to leave your terrible job and do what’s the most fun and entertaining. In that sense, I have been retired for quite a while.
In one of the companies, he is currently working on an aerosol pathogen detection device that is supposed to be able to see all pathogens in the air. He can also stay awake for a long time and doesn’t want to go to sleep because he is having so much fun.
Valve confirms the authenticity of the video
What kind of interview is this? The 87-second interview of Gabe Newell with YouTuber Zalkar Saliev was released on July 15, 2025, on YouTube. At that time, the channel had 19 subscribers, and part of the video consisted of the YouTuber filming his screen, where Gabe Newell could be seen talking about his daily life.
The English-language online magazine PC Gamer discovered the video and inquired with Valve whether the interview was authentic – and the company confirmed the authenticity of the video. The channel has since grown to 365 subscribers (as of 11:00 AM, July 18, 2025).
Saliev describes the channel as a place where interviews and success stories of successful individuals from the USA are shared to introduce American culture to young men in the CIS states. This includes countries like Ukraine, Armenia, and Kazakhstan.
In the new interview with Gabe Newell, it becomes clear again how much the Valve CEO enjoys diving and living on his ship. He also has a company that aims to explore the previously unknown regions of the sea and recently even encountered potentially unknown life forms: Gabe Newell plays Subnautica in real life, has his own research company, and discovers new life forms in the sea
