Gabe Newell is the Kilroy of videogames, constantly popping up in strange corners where you least expect to find him. He owns Valve, he's doing weird brain science, he's at the bottom of the ocean, he's chatting with a YouTuber with a double-digit number of subscribers. Where will he pop up next? Right behind you? Yes.
Today, Newell's popping up to acquire a yacht company. In a press release hot out of Alblasserdam, Netherlands (via Knoebel), it was announced that "Oceanco, one of the world's leading custom yacht builders, is entering a new chapter with Gabe Newell." Sure. Why not? Maybe Half-Life 3 is a boat.
For 15 years, Oceanco has been the domain of the Barwani billionaire family, from Oman, but now "it’s time for Oceanco’s next ownership," apparently. "Gabe Newell is not entering this world as a financier or a strategist, but as a hands-on visionary who respects the sea, the craft, and above all, the people who make it possible," trundles the press release.
Newell acquiring a yacht company is very funny but not very surprising. The man himself already owns a small fleet of very expensive boats, including the Draak and Rocinante, and is set to take ownership of the $400 million Y722 superyacht (made by Oceanco) later this year. He only recently graced our pages for chatting about how he spends a lot of time at sea scuba diving.
Although I, being a games journalist, own many yachts, I confess it's an industry that's not super familiar to me. So it was with some amusement that I learnt these kinds of changes in ownership get the same treatment from the yacht world that they do in the games industry. Namely, a lot of promising potentially worried investors that absolutely nothing is going to change.
"Valve was never about market domination or quarterly wins," says the Oceanco site blurb, "it was about giving smart people the space to build weird, wonderful things that changed how people play. "That same spirit draws him to Oceanco. His first decision? Leave the team alone. Seriously. Oceanco has vision and integrity, and a culture that actually works. Gabe doesn’t want to fix it—he wants to fuel it."
The corpo hypespeak flows thick and fast. "Gabe sees the world as full of crossovers. What happens when you let yachtbuilders talk to worldbuilders? When craftsmen get access to tech usually reserved for game devs and mad scientists? You get innovation that doesn’t just look good—it feels good." Does that actually mean anything? No, but it certainly feels exciting.
"This isn’t about buying a yacht company. It’s about plugging into a tribe of builders, dreamers, sailors, creatives and engineers—and seeing what kind of future they can shape when no one’s holding them back. This isn’t a transaction. It’s ignition."
Sounds amazing. Who wants to spot me several hundred million dollars to invest in yachts?
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