Eight years ago, the Valve founder tried to help Hideo Kojima get closer to one of his biggest dreams. Emails revealed during the legal clash between Elon Musk and Sam Altman now show that Gabe Newell even reached out to SpaceX to make it happen.

One of the strangest side stories to emerge from the Elon Musk and Sam Altman trial has nothing to do with OpenAI itself and everything to do with Gabe Newell trying to do Hideo Kojima a favor. According to the emails that surfaced, Kojima visited Valve’s Bellevue offices in 2018 while discussing the then-upcoming Death Stranding, and two topics stood out to Newell: Kojima’s interest in the artificial intelligence work happening at OpenAI, and his long-standing obsession with space.

That obsession is no minor detail. Kojima has openly said more than once that one of his dreams is to create a video game tied to space in a real, tangible way. Newell apparently took that seriously enough to contact Musk and explain that the creator of Metal Gear Solid and Death Stranding would love to visit SpaceX. Musk’s answer was straightforward: “Sure, it would be great to meet Hideo Kojima, and he’s welcome to see the rocket factory. No problem sending him my email.”

Gabe Newell Really Did Try to Bring Kojima Closer to Space

The visit never actually happened, but the idea was not forgotten. During a 2020 conversation with Geoff Keighley at Summer Game Fest, Kojima himself referred to the plan and made it clear that Newell had meant business. “Gabe said, since we both love space, we’re going to visit SpaceX because he knows Elon Musk, he’ll contact him, and we’ll go together. The truth is, I really wanted to go together, but we haven’t done it yet.” Musk later replied on X/Twitter with a simple invitation: “You’re welcome to come anytime.”

The story is all the more charming because it suggests a genuine bond formed between Newell and Kojima after the collaboration involving Death Stranding and Half-Life: Alyx. In 2023, Kojima went even further and said he wanted to spend several months on the International Space Station and become the first person to make a video game in space. It sounds like peak Kojima, but if anyone in this industry would seriously try to pull that off, it would probably be him.

Source: 3DJuegos