Gabe Newell Death Threat Dev Resigns

The developer who threatened to kill Gabe Newell on Twitter has resigned from his position at Code Avarice and may not return to games again.

Mike Maulbeck has sold his half of the company to another employee, and has given up all his rights and ownership of the studio's intellectual properties, meaning he has likely closed off all routes of income from the studio.

The sudden departure comes days after Valve removed Code Avarice's latest game, Paranautical Activity, from Steam in response to Maulbeck's death threat.

On Monday, moments after Paranautical Activity was published on Steam, Maulbeck aired his outrage that the company had mistakenly listed it as an "Early Access" game, as opposed to a finished title.

On Twitter, Maulbeck wrote, in all caps: "ARE YOU F***ING KIDDING ME STEAM?"

He added: "First they force me to delay the game because I can't release on weekends, now this. Steam is the most incompetent piece of f***ing s***."

Before concluding: "I am going to kill Gabe Newell. He is going to die."

Consequently, Valve removed the game from Steam and a representative for the corporation has said all ties with Code Avarice have been cut.

Maulbeck has since apologised for his actions. In a notice of his resignation, posted on the Code Avarice website, he wrote:

"Yesterday, Paranautical Activity released out of steam Early Access, and following some confusion about the state of the game I became frustrated with Steam, and tweeted a series of angry tweets that ended in me sarcastically saying I was going to kill Gabe Newell. A statement I obviously didn’t mean but was regardless completely unacceptable.

"As a result of my actions, Paranautical Activity, a game made by 4 or 5 people depending on who you count as team members, was removed from Steam. I feel is it my responsibility to step down from Code Avarice completely so that Steam has no reason to harbour any more ill-will towards the company, and maybe even if we can’t see Paranautical Activity restored, at least future Code Avarice games may be allowed onto the platform."

Maulbeck blamed his temperament for the consequences his colleagues now face.

"I’m really, deeply sorry that my short sighted, hot-tempered actions resulted in not only my own dreams and aspirations being destroyed, but those of the entire team I worked with. I’m sorry that my statements made Valve and/or Gabe uncomfortable and upset (rightfully so).

"My temper and tendency to use twitter to vent has been a consistent problem since I entered the games industry, and I just can’t do it. I don’t have the willpower necessary to be the 'face' of a company. If I do continue to work in games it’ll be as an anonymous 1 of 1000 at some shitty corporation, not the most public figure of a single digit sized team.

"I’m out," he added.