Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
PC Gamer
PC Gamer
Rich Stanton

Valve CMO threatened the company would walk away from games if it didn't own the rights to Half-Life—'It wasn't an idle threat—we weren't going to take on all of the risk to make other people rich'

Valve Mike Harrington Monica Harrington Gabe Newell Sierra
Gabe Newell in a Valve promotional video, on a yacht.

It's the 2025 Game Developer's Conference, and one of this year's most interesting talks was delivered by Monica Harrington, a founding member of Valve and the company's first chief marketing officer.

Harrington's career has been very much on the business side of software development but, way back in Valve's early days, she suddenly realised "there were a few things I didn't know" about the deal the company had signed with publisher Sierra to distribute Half-Life (thanks, GamesRadar).

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Selena Gomez Fans Beg Her To Dump Benny Blanco After Latest Comment About Their Relationship
What seemed like a funny story about their relationship left some viewers deeply uncomfortable, with critics accusing Benny Blanco of repeatedly embarrassing Selena Gomez in public.
Bored Panda
Bored Panda
AI can help with academic research but doesn’t always get it right – here are some tips to check the information you receive
Almost 25% of adults in the United States are using artificial intelligence chatbots on a daily basis, a 2026 Pew Research Center study found.
The Conversation
The Conversation
Blink-182's Travis Barker Shares Candid Hospital Bed Photo With Kourtney Kardashian
Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker shared photos from a recent hospital visit featuring wife Kourtney Kardashian Barker and daughter Alabama, without disclosing details of his treatment
International Business Times UK
International Business Times UK
The 'World's Oldest' Bartender's Very Illegal Basement Bar
A recent profile of 103-year-old Irv Koch's basement bar highlights all the ways that modern zoning codes crush novel and fun third places.
Reason
Reason
Harry Potter and Cursed Child director pushed back on making play shorter: ‘I was dragged kicking and screaming’
Play, which originally opened in 2016 as two parts, has been condensed into one production
The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Smokers have a lower risk of Parkinson’s – we may have found out why
Smoking is one of the biggest causes of ill health and early death. Yet smokers seem to have a lower risk of developing Parkinson’s disease than non-smokers – by around half according to some studies.
The Conversation
The Conversation
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.
Download on the AppStore Get it on Google Play