Gabe Newell, a diver, was diving when a Shark tried to bite him "a couple of times" but he didn't seem too bothered. 'I think that's just how I'm wired.'

In a recent documentary about the making of Half-Life 2 Gabe Newell confirmed that he was the IRL Saxton, the kind of guy who isn't too bothered when faced with a Shark attack. Aren't all of us?

The documentary focuses on the fact that Valve, while developing Half-Life 2, was involved in a legal battle with publisher Vivendi which could have been life-threatening. Valve COO Scott Lynch explains they filed a "narrow suit" over a dispute with their existing licensing terms and won a few small victories before Vivendi decided "to go World War 3".

We'll get to that shark in a moment, but first, let's set the scene. Vivendi, it was said, was out for blood and soon began targeting Lynch and Newell, as well as their wives! In addition to suing Valve, Vivendi also sued Lynch and Newell personally.

Newell says that it's not legal. "It is basically an attempt to intimidate you. They're saying, 'not only will we take all this money from your company but we are also going to bankrupted you.'

"Publishers were used to bullying developers in the industry back then, right?" This was a power play as much as a financial one.

Lynch says that Newell's house had to be put on the market "if we wanted to keep going." Newell himself said, "I was very close to personal bankruptcy: We went all-in, there was no more money."

It occurs to me that bullying someone like Gabe Newell is not a good idea. The man, who is telling the story on what appears to be his $500 million superyacht has another way of putting things.

Newell does not answer the question of whether this is a stressful time for him. "I don't really know, but there are certain things I just... I am a kind of weird person in many dimensions. I don't think, "oh, this is super frightening", like I have no emotional response to it. I just say, 'well, this is what we are doing and we'll watch how it turns out.'

"I don't think I was stressed out, right? I mean, it didn't bother me. I was diving in South Africa and a shark bit me twice. The people around me were more scared than I was. I was like, "oh, the shark is trying to bite me. I should get away from it" whereas others were like, [high-pitched] "oh, there's a shark!" It's trying bite someone!

Newell is quick to point out that this has nothing to do with bravery or even foolhardiness.

Newell says, "I think that's just how I'm wired." "I don’t think it speaks to my character, but it's as if I don't get agitated by risk, which means I take more risks than most people. This can be a good thing or you can ruin the lives of others who are in your vicinity.

Vivendi can also swivel. It's hard to think of a better way to deal with bullyboy lawyers than to be unbothered by a shark that's actually trying to bite you.

Newell finishes his story by telling it on a yacht with a large shark model behind him. Was the shark in the story zapped and stuffed to serve as a trophy by the big man for its impertinence? If this was Saxton, there would be little doubt.

Valve would eventually triumph over the Sierra lawsuit just as I imagine Newell triumphant in the sea. The ordeal ended in 2005 with a settlement which saw the publisher stop distribution of Valve's game and all licenses returned. It's an amazing story, but the most impressive cameo is from the intern who spoke Korean. This intern, along with the shark, changed the history of videogames.