Next Year, Gabe Newell Becomes a Video Game Hall of Famer

John Carmack’s in there. Will Wright’s in there, too. So are Tim Sweeney, Peter Molyneux and Shigeru Miyamoto. And now Gabe Newell will be joining all of those video game luminaries in the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame

According to the AIAS, the Hall of Fame Award goes to “game creators who have been instrumental in the development of highly influential games and moving a particular genre forward.” Newell, of course, has helmed Valve as it rolled out classic games like Half-Life 2 and evolutionary services like Steam. With achievements like those, it’s a bit of a surprise that Valve’s top executive wasn’t already in the Academy’s august body. Newell will be inducted by Epic Games’ president Mike Capps at next year’s DICE Summit in Las Vegas and will be speaking at the conference. DICE isn’t usually the kind of gathering where game reveals happen but maybe Mr. Newell will be so moved by the admiration and appreciation that he’ll finally spill the beans on Half-Life 3. It’s Vegas. Anything could happen.