Gabe Newell plays Dota 2 daily and still gets flamed as a noob in his 60s

Gabe Newell revealed during The International 2025 that despite being in his 60s and semi-retired, he still plays at least one Dota 2 match daily—and regularly gets flamed in chat as a noob.

The man has logged 800 hours and still calls himself a beginner. Nearly every week, someone tells him to uninstall. It's the universal Dota experience: get flamed, queue again anyway.

Newell's been hooked since 16 years ago when he first talked about his Dota obsession. He attributes the addiction to constant decision-making—every five seconds demands a new tactical adjustment. Win and you want another. Lose and you need redemption. That loop keeps players up until 2 or 3 AM, one more match turning into five.

The Valve dev team does the same thing. They finish coding, then keep playing together until late night, laughing until their sides hurt. Newell sees the chat flame as proof of engagement—players care enough to type. He's right. Games where people banter and trash-talk together have staying power.

For social players, Dota 2 delivers what single-player games can't: the chaos of coordinating with friends, the banter in voice chat, the shared misery of a bad draft. If a 60-something founder plays daily and takes the flame in stride, the social hook is real. Worth trying if you've got a regular group.