Counter-Strike Co-Creator Praises Valve for Doing "a Great Job" with the IP
Counter-Strike 2
Despite having a history of 25 years, the value of the Counter-Strike IP still maintains a strong momentum and it could be one of the smartest investments Valve has ever conducted, as proven by the fact that Counter-Strike cases brought Valve more than $1 billion in 2023.
Not only is Valve happy, but also Counter-Strike co-creator Minh "Gooseman" Le, who was working on the mod for Half-Life until they were acquired by Valve to develop the mod into a complete game. That's how Counter-Strike was born. He told a Norwegian site SpillHistorie in an interview (thanks, PC Gamer):
"I’m happy with how things turned out with Valve, regarding selling the IP to them. They have done a great job of maintaining the legacy of CS."
Counter-Strike 2
His time at Valve was “humbling” and educational, as Minh recalled the invaluable experiences he had gained:
“It was very humbling because I viewed Valve with such high regard. I learned a lot from working at Valve because I got to work with some of the best game developers in the industry, and they taught me some skills I would never have learned outside of Valve.”
In response to the question of whether he had any regrets from the original game, Minh Le specifically nominated — what is regarded as the most powerful sniper rifle by players — AWP for not balancing it well. "I think it gets overused and has become a bit of a meta gun."
As we talk about how Counter-Strike became an independent game from a Half-Life mod, we’d like to recommend you check the story of Eero Varendi. It’s also because of the modding work he did that he was able to shift his work from farmland in the southern hemisphere to a senior quest designer for one of the top franchises in the world.
You can read the interview by SpillHistorie here and PC Gamer's report on this topic here. Also, don't forget to join our 80 Level Talent platform and our Telegram channel, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, TikTok, and Reddit, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.
