his eldest son in the late 1990s served as inspiration for the final boss of Half-Life, as the couple considered childbirth to be the most frightening thing they could think of at the time. As of 2019, Newell and Mennet had divorced. In 2011, Newell said his favorite video games included Super Mario 64, Doom, and a Burroughs mainframe version of Star Trek. Doom convinced him that games were the future of entertainment, and Super Mario 64 convinced him that games are a form of art. Newell is a fan of the animated series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. Newell also recorded a voice pack for Dota 2, a Valve-developed game, which referenced many previous statements and phrases from himself in a humorous manner. Within the gaming community, Newell has the nickname Gaben, derived from his work email address. Newell said that he has tried to grow into his public image: "They hug me when they run into me. I'm not a hugging person, but that's what they want. I was with my kids the first time that happened in public, and my kids were pretty cool with it. But I wasn't. 'Dad, roll with it.' Even now, I'm learning from our customers." In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Newell resided in New Zealand with a group of friends electing to stay in Auckland rather than returning to Seattle once airlines travel restrictions were eased. As an expression of gratitude for New Zealand's hospitality, Newell and others planned a free event, "We Love Aotearoa", with live performances from musical artists across New Zealand. This was accompanied by VR stands for Valve games such as Half-Life: Alyx and The Lab. The event was postponed from August to December due to a lockdown induced by a second wave of COVID-19 in the country. In October, Newell applied for permanent residency in New Zealand, but said he did not intend to take Valve offices with him. In 2021, he returned to Valve in Seattle. References Further reading External links 1962 births Living people Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame inductees American billionaires American computer businesspeople American technology chief executives American technology company founders American video game designers BAFTA fellows Harvard University alumni Microsoft employees Microsoft Windows people Valve Corporation people Video game producers People from Davis, California Davis Senior High School (California) alumni Game Developers Conference Pioneer Award recipients