Valve president Gabe Newell is going viral for the cheeky speech he gave at The International, saying he still plays Dota 2 even though other players “talk sh*t” to him.

Gabe Newell is the co-founder, president, and face of Valve, a gaming company that’s most famous for titles like Portal, Half-Life, Team Fortress 2, and of course, creating the gaming platform Steam.

Valve is also responsible for making Dota 2, a MOBA that competes with titles like League of Legends for popularity in the genre. Much like other competitive games, Dota 2 has a world championship competition, which it has dubbed The International.

This year marks the 14th iteration of The International, and Valve prez Gabe Newell showed up at the opening ceremonies to make some remarks about Dota at one of esports’ most important
events of the year.

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During his speech, Newell admitted that he grew to “love” the game after The International kicked off when he witnessed the skills of its professional players in a competitive environment.

“Fourteen years ago, we held the first International in Cologne, Germany. For me, that first International was awesome. It was awesome to see the skill of the players and the enthusiasm of the community,” he said. “Before that International I really enjoyed the game, but after the International I loved the game.”

“It’s not just the game I love but the community,” he continued. “Sure, people talk sh*t at me in chat, and about once a week people say, ‘Hey noob, uninstall the game and die.’ But that’s really about their enthusiasm for the game, and the energy that they bring. That’s why after all these years, I still play Dota every day.”