Gabe Newell, founder and CEO of Valve, the company behind the dominant PC gaming platform Steam, has shared his nuanced views on NFTs and cryptocurrencies in a recent interview with gaming outlet Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Newell carefully separated the underlying technology from its current industry participants, praising the former while harshly criticizing the latter.
Technology Gets a Pass: Distributed Ledgers and Digital Ownership
Newell likened the blockchain and NFT technology to nitrocellulose in chemistry—a tool with legitimate potential. “The underlying technology of distributed ledgers, and the notion of digital ownership, and shared universes, are all pretty reasonable,” he stated. This endorsement of the tech contrasts sharply with the broader gaming community's skepticism, which often conflates the technology with current market abuses. Newell's position suggests that, in his view, the concept of provable digital scarcity and ownership is not inherently flawed.
Harsh Words for Industry Participants: Crime and Sketchy Behavior
When it came to the people driving the NFT space, Newell did not hold back. “The people in the space, though, tend to be involved in a lot of criminal activity and a lot of sketchy behaviors. So it’s much more about the actors than it is about the underlying technology,” he said. This blunt assessment aligns with widely reported issues such as money laundering, pump-and-dump schemes, and outright scams that have plagued the NFT market since its explosion in popularity.
Steam’s Crypto Payment Experiment: A Cautionary Tale
Newell also discussed Steam's short-lived acceptance of Bitcoin payments, which ended in 2017. He explained that the primary issues were extreme price volatility and an alarmingly high rate of fraud. “It turned out that it just made customers super mad. There was the issue of volatility. Volatility is a bad thing in a medium of exchange,” he noted. Furthermore, he claimed that the “vast majority” of cryptocurrency transactions on Steam were fraudulent, often involving funds from illegal sources. This experience underscores the practical difficulties of integrating cryptocurrencies into mainstream consumer platforms.
Newell’s remarks offer a rare, balanced perspective from a gaming industry titan: embracing innovation while demanding accountability from those who bring it to market.