Gabe Newell CEO and co-founder of Valve, BAFTA Fellowship Award winner, billionaire, and World of Warcraft Goldfarmer (retired). The topic was covered in a recent interview with Edge magazine, where Newell described the evolution of Steam, explaining that at some point Valve began to think of games "as a productivity platform" rather than just entertainment.

"As a kind of proof of concept, I decided to become a World Of Warcraft Goldfarmer for a while. That's right. 'I was making $20 an hour farming gold. For most people in most parts of the world, I was earning an eye-popping wage."

Seeing the in-game economy up close, Valve started the Steam Workshop, a hub for player-created mods and in-game items (including those available for sale), which Newell explained paid some people well over $20 per hour.

"We have stories of parents calling us because they thought we were selling drugs to their kids. What happened was that PayPal ping-ponged the parent and said, 'Your child has exceeded the limit you can deposit into PayPal per month. He is probably selling stolen goods or drugs. So the parent calls and says, 'He's making items at Team Fortress Workshop. He's making $500,000 a year.' That showed us that the idea of games as a platform was beneficial to us, and it influenced all of our subsequent decisions about multiplayer games"

. [Newell also took the opportunity to address the Epic Games Store and the increased competition in the digital storefront market, stating that his real problem was Apple Arcade and the way "people have fallen in love with the Apple model of controlling everything." He said the real problem is the Apple Arcade and the way "people have fallen in love with the Apple model of controlling everything.

Thanks, PCGamesN.