GameStop, a long-established retailer in the gaming world, made a humorous reference to Valve founder Gabe Newell in its new discount campaign. Announcing a “buy two, get one free” promotion on used games, the company alluded to Newell’s famous “inability to count to three” joke, suggesting they were ready to help him with his counting.

Valve’s failure to release a third game in a series became the subject of the GameStop campaign.

This joke, which has been circulating among gamers for years, stems from Valve’s failure to release third installments in its highly successful series. The fact that legendary titles like Half-Life, Portal, Left 4 Dead, Team Fortress, Counter-Strike, and Dota have no sequels has made the joke about Gabe Newell having a problem with the number 3 a part of popular culture.

In a statement on its X platform and in a press release, GameStop emphasized that this limited-stock campaign is proof that they can count to three. In a company statement, they said, “This promotion clearly demonstrates our proficiency in counting to three. Buy two items, get one free: a total of three items. We can count, and we’re sure you can too,” announcing that the campaign will continue in stores and online until January 1st.

Retail giant GameStop has been at the center of internet culture not only with this joke, but also with recent events in the stock market. In late 2020, the company’s share price fell below $5, but thanks to organized resistance from investors on Reddit, the company’s share value rose above $500.

GameStop’s move is seen as both a marketing strategy and an industry joke, and Gabe Newell is known to have enjoyed this situation himself in the past. Newell participated in this joke in his YouTube content in 2021, but Valve is not expected to announce a game with “3” in its title anytime soon.

What do you think of Valve’s strategy, which they’ve been pursuing for years? Do you think we’ll ever see a third game in the series?