Valve's DRM was inspired by an exec's nephew, who 'used a $500 check I'd sent him for school expenses and bought himself a CD-ROM replicator… he sent me a lovely thank you note'

Valve logo with a man with a steam valve for an eye. .

One of this year's most interesting GDC talks was delivered by Monica Harrington, a founding member of Valve and the company's first chief marketing officer, who went over her history with the company that brought us Half-Life and Steam.

There's so much in Harrington's career and memories to pick out, but a notable anecdote which PC Gamer was also able to follow-up on involves when, in the company's earliest years, Harrington gave her nephew some money: and then found out what he'd done with it.