Gabe Newell: Fellowship 2013

Gabe Newell, CEO of influential games company Valve, received the 2013 BAFTA Fellowship at the British Academy Games Awards.

Newell scooped the Award for his outstanding contribution to gaming with huge hits like Half-Life, Portal and Left 4 Dead.

In 1998, groundbreaking first-person shooter Half-Life won over 50 Game of the Year Awards and was nominated for three Interactive BAFTAs. The 2004 sequel Half-Life 2 was equally successful, scoring six BAFTAs.

“His work in giving back to the games industry through developing and showcasing other games makers has been outstanding,” says Harvey Elliot, chair of BAFTA’s Games Committee.

“He is an inspirational developer and truly deserving of our Fellow recognition.”

Newell originally worked for Microsoft for 13 years where he was a producer on Windows. Then in 1996 he left to found Valve with colleague Mike Harrington. Valve struck gold with their very first game, Half-Life.

Before its release, Newell said they “were pretty dubious that we were going to do anything other than make a mediocre game and then end up crawling back to Microsoft with our tails between our legs”.

Despite his doubts, Half-Life was an astonishing critical and commercial success, pushing the boundaries of gaming and establishing Valve as one of the leading game developers.

“Everything we do at Valve is a collaboration. On behalf of everyone at Valve and all the gamers that have come with us on this adventure over the last few years…thank you.”
– Gabe Newell

Newell believes that working with the online gaming community is the key to creating better games. this includes the army of modders who tweak existing titles.

Tactical shooter Counter-Strike showcases this approach. Starting off as a Half-Life mod, Valve went on to develop the game, which has won fans around the world.

His community-led approach also powers Steam, Valve’s innovative digital distribution platform. Newell told The Verge he sees Steam, “as tools for content developers and tools for producers. We’re just always thinking: how do we want to make content developers’ lives better and users’ lives a lot better?”

Awarded every year by the Academy, the BAFTA Fellowship is the highest accolade given to an individual in recognition of an outstanding and exceptional contribution to film, games or TV.

Previous Fellows include Peter Molyneux, Shigeru Miyamoto, Nolan Bushnell and Will Wright.

For more inspiring stories from the world of film, games and TV explore our BAFTA Award Stories section.