In an interview with game consultant Indie Game Joe, Counter-Strike co-creator Minh Le revealed a hilarious anecdote about Valve boss Gabe Newell that’s going viral for just how absurd it is.

Le claimed that, at one point during his tenure, Newell became so enamored with the concept of Mongolian throat singing that he couldn’t stop practicing it in Valve’s corporate offices — to the point where his employees started closing their office doors to avoid the noise.

If you’re not familiar with Mongolian throat singing, it’s a vocal technique most popularly associated with the people of Tuvan, a region in Russia located northwest of Mongolia. The Tuvan people call it Khöömei, and it’s achieved by using circular breathing to produce two or more notes simultaneously. It’s a seriously impressive talent that has become popularized over time, and has been utilized in a number of famous films and TV series (like the Sardaukar chant in the first Dune movie, for example).

Apparently, Newell wanted to try it out for himself — but his choice to practice in the workplace wasn’t necessarily conducive to a collaborative work environment.

“At one point, he got into Mongolian throat singing,” Le explained. “In Mongolia, they have these throat singers that sing really interestingly, just using their throats. Gabe watched this documentary on them. He got really fascinated with this concept, and he started to practice that. He was doing it throughout the office. He would just walk around the halls doing this throat-singing thing.

“You would hear him try to sing with his throat as he’s walking down the hall. I remember a lot of the people in the office were kind of annoyed with this, because, you know, it's kind of loud, right? …He would do it daily. People would just start closing their doors. It started to become quite a closed office. It was an interesting time. Thankfully, he didn’t do it for more than — I think it lasted for about five months.”

As pointed out by a commenter on Instagram, Le isn’t the only Valve veteran to have mentioned Gabe’s Mongolian throat singing phase; in the Half-Life 2: 20th Anniversary Documentary, senior developer Charlie Brown mentioned that the office was “normally pretty vibrant and loud,” with staff “riding scooters in the hallway and doing all sorts of stuff,” while Gabe was “Tuvan throat singing.”

Fans can watch the man practicing for themselves in the Dota 2 Mega-Kills Announcement Pack video on YouTube, which shows him warming up a sound booth as part of a skit.

Unsurprisingly, Le’s most recent story has resulted in no end of jokes and memes about Gabe’s Mongolian throat singing phase, with fans joking that he “yearns for the steppe” and affectionately dubbing him “Gabe-is Khan.”

This is the latest amusing news to come from Newell after he purchased a $70.8 million super mansion in June, which came with its own underground tunnel. You know, in case the Headcrabs try to get him or something.

Image Credits: YouTube - Valve

GTA 6 fans aren't thrilled about a $400 collector's set that doesn't include the game, and they're even comparing it to previous Rockstar collector's editions.

Rockstar Games just announced a $400 collector's set for GTA 6, which includes a bunch of premium merch, but excludes an actual copy of the game. Naturally, this has caused a bit of a ruckus online, with fans believing it lacks enough value to justify the cost. It has also drawn comparisons to other Rockstar collector's editions, including the one for GTA 5 and a similar collector's set for Red Dead Redemption 2.

The GTA 6 set includes a variety of big-ticket items that likely drove up the overall price, including a pair of Oakley sunglasses. Oakley's sunglasses often cost anywhere between $150–$200, so a custom pair likely resulted in a higher price tag for this collection. With that said, it is by far the most expensive Rockstar collector's edition to exist, and even diehard fans aren't willing to open their wallets.

"I hate to say it, but I think I’m gonna pass on the collector’s edition," said one fan. "$400 is just insane and it doesn’t even come with a steelbook copy of the game. I’d rather save my money and buy some individual merch items that look cool rather than some overpriced sunglasses."

Another fan noted that, a decade ago, GTA 6 would've had a much cheaper, yet still premium special edition that included the game as well as some of these items: "If this was 2016, they’d have an Ultimate Edition for $129.99 that includes the game, the coke mirror, the snuff spoon, the razor keychain and a map, but we live in 2026 SuperHell."

Red Dead Redemption 2 had a similar collector's box without the game that cost $100, which included various trinkets and replicas of in-game items, such as a physical version of the store catalog. Some believe that Rockstar did a far better job with that set, given it had a ton of interesting merchandise without making players break the bank.

"I would’ve actually preferred a GTA 6 Collector’s Box similar to the one for Red Dead Redemption 2," said a fan. "It felt more connected to the game and the price point of around 100 bucks was also WAY MORE reasonable."

Rockstar's western sequel also had two smaller-scale special editions, priced at $79.99 and $99.99, respectively. The former included a special physical map and digital content for the story mode, while the latter included everything in the previous edition as well as a steelbook and special online content. Although GTA 6's $100 Ultimate Edition boasts a ton of extra digital content, it won't entitle you to any kind of steelbook, a disc, or other physical goodies.

One other point of contention with fans is that the $400 collector's set for GTA 6 boasts a special physical version of Leonida's map. Historically, Rockstar has bundled a poster/map with previous GTA and Red Dead games. It's currently unclear if the standard boxed copy of GTA 6 will include a map, but IGN has reached out to Rockstar for clarification. Still, the lack of clarity at the moment hasn't stopped fans from fearing the worst.

"I remember this used to come with the normal physical copy of the game," expressed one concerned fan.

GTA 5 also had a lucrative set of special editions, with a $79.99 version that boasted a steelbook, blueprint map of San Andreas, digital content, and yes, a physical copy of the game. There was also a much larger $150 version which featured all of the content in the previous version, as well as a New Era 9FIFTY snapback hat, a secruity deposit bag with a GTA 5-themed key, and a hefty, premium box to store everything in.

Although GTA 6 won't release on a disc, it will get a physical edition that includes a code in the box. Physical copies will release on November 12, a week before launch, to allow players to pre-load the game. Rockstar is also selling a physical CD and vinyl of GTA 6's album and limited edition DualSense controllers for superfans.

Call of Duty: Warzone is getting a new Operator Skin toggle, which means you can finally turn off all those goofy skins.

Activision said that from Season 1 of the upcoming Modern Warfare 4, this new Operator Skin toggle will be available to let players see only Modern Warfare 4 Operators in the game.

When the toggle is on, you see a Modern Warfare 4 Operator in place of any Operator or Operator Skin from another Call of Duty game that's been equipped by another player. This applies to enemies, party members, and squadmates, both in the lobby and during a match, Activision said in a blog post.

Your own equipped Operator won’t change, so you’ll continue to see the Operator you selected, even if it’s from another game. The toggle only impacts your game, not the experience of others, and will be OFF by default.

Operators and Weapons from Modern Warfare 2, Modern Warfare 3, Black Ops 6, and Black Ops 7 will remain available in Warzone starting with Season 1, including the Skins, Blueprints, and Camos you’ve earned and bought for them. “The collection you’ve built remains yours to use, and existing plans for Carry Forward for previous titles are not affected with this update,” Activision said.

“Over the last few years, Call of Duty: Warzone has brought together Operators, weapons, and experiences from across recent Call of Duty titles in one shared experience,” Activision continued. “We know some players enjoy that variety, while others would prefer Call of Duty: Warzone feel more aligned with the world of the latest release, including the upcoming Modern Warfare 4.

This is big news for Call of Duty fans, many of whom had complained about goofy skins particularly in Black Ops 6. With the likes of Beavis and Butt-Head and American Dad hitting Black Ops 6 shortly after weed-obsessed bundles starring Seth Rogen, some fans said they’d had enough of what they called the 'Fortnite-ification' of their beloved Call of Duty, and pleaded with publisher Activision to return to its mil-sim roots. Those complaints sparked a U-turn at Activision for last year's Black Ops 7, amid pressure from rival shooter Battlefield 6 and its commitment to “gritty realism.”

In May, Infinity Ward told fans to "keep the receipts" after promising to remain grounded regarding cosmetics in Modern Warfare 4.

But why not add this toggle in Black Ops 6? In a social media post, Activision insisted the toggle "required new tech that will only be available starting with Season 01."

Back with Warzone, Activision said all weapons from Modern Warfare 2 through Black Ops 7 will continue to be accessible through the Legacy tab in the Loadout menu of Call of Duty: Warzone. While these Weapons remain available to use, Gunsmith functionality and prior Custom Loadouts will not be supported for legacy Weapons or legacy Blueprints. However, these won’t be left as base Weapons without Attachments; instead a five-attachment version of each legacy base Weapon will be available, as well as any Blueprint for a legacy Weapon with their existing Attachment setups.

“Our goal for this chapter of Call of Duty: Warzone is for the weapon meta to feel distinctly rooted in Modern Warfare 4, while preserving access to nostalgic choices that players know and love,” Activision said. “Raven Software will continue to deliver on its commitment to balancing weapons on a biweekly basis, keeping the MW4 weapon lineup fluid and interesting throughout each season.”