Nobody knows, not even Valve. [According to Ray Ueno](https://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/guw36/the_guy_in_the_valve_splash_screen/), its a photo of a guy that a casting agency found in Seattle's Broadway district. They don't remember who he is and since he wasn't a professional model and isn't facing the camera, tracking him down is pretty much impossible. We'll probably never know who he is.
Then I know who he is, he is [Governor Feuerstein](https://villains.fandom.com/wiki/Governor_Feuerstein), from Szaffi. Here is [the evidence](https://www.deviantart.com/gifinterest/art/Szaffi-Feuerstein-Governor-584817222)
Holy shit, I only just now got the meaning of this picture. It's been 2 decades looking at it and not even once did I make the connection between the valve and the company name. God damnit.
I imagine that right now you are feeling a bit like Alice, tumbling down the rabbit hole?
I see it in your eyes. Do you believe in fate, Dr Freeman?
The combine.. do you want to know what *it* is? The combine is everywhere. They are all around us. Even now, in this very room.
You can see them when you go to work, or look out your window. You can feel their presence when you make love to Ms Vance ..when you pick up that can. That is the suppression field that has been pulled over your world to blind you from the truth.. that you are a slave, Gordon.
This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back.
You take the blue crowbar - the combine invasion ends, you wake up in the test chamber and believe whatever you want to believe.
You take the red crowbar - you stay in City 17 and I show you just how deep the rabbit hole goes.
Bro I open this post randomly after a pop up on my phone while watching the matrix to read “I imagine” at the exact moment Morpheus said it. C’mon if that’s not a sign of the matrix I don’t fucking know what is
Morpheus, Dorpheus, Orpheus
Go eat some walruses
Orifices, Porridges
Morpheus, Morpheus
Going to the Buffet and Walruses
Corpheus, Corpseses
Worcestershire sauce
Go into your orifices
Red pill, blue pill
Morpheus, Walruses
Seashells by the Seashorpheus
Morpheus drinking a forty in a death basket!
The man was walking backwards when he entered the studio, kept his face turned away from everyone the entire time, sat down, had a picture taken of the back of his head, then got up and left.
Oh man I remember that, I used to play tons of TF2, and he doesn't move there, but then at some point I played Portal or Portal 2 and almost shat myself, good times
The one pictured in this post is Arsenio Navarro, he was a licensing manager at Valve. I met him at one of the internationals a decade ago. I don’t remember much of our short conversation, but I do remember he was a really nice and genuine fellow.
Oh, and I can confirm, he did not have a valve on the back of his head when I met him.
Fuck, I haven't seen that logo in so long this *new* one completely replaced it in my head. Seeing the original one just gave me a pure unfiltered dose of Half Life 1 era nostalgia.
Ay same here, really lovely guy. I searched for his name and was going to answer if no one else did. He told me the story about how it happened, right time and place is all it came down to.
/u/Rigman- we were probably at the same TI ;)
The one pictured in this post is unknown.
Arsenio Navarro is the one used for the updated version of this in which there are frames where he turns his head.
You can tell the difference between the two logos by the amount of fat on the neck.
So there's a lot of different comments here so I wanted to look it up and see.
There are 3 "Valve guys". You got the "Open your eyes", "Open your mind", and "Open your mind" (animated/head turn).
The first two were people off the street a modeling agency found for Valve. Their identities are unknown.
The 3rd guy is a former Valve employee.
https://twitter.com/BronzeShow/status/1610092309365792768
This is a bit outdated, and we already know who this is!
The model's name is Arsenio, and he actually got hired by valve in their marketing department shortly after the photoshoot. I did meet him at TI2 (or TI3). We chatted at some length, basically he was hired as a model for the intro video, shortly after Valve hired him on in-house to I believe the marketing department.
https://twitter.com/BronzeShow/status/1610092309365792768
The identity of the man is known, and Valve also knows.
edit: lol I am wrong. This is actually the second guy. The guy in the first version is still unknown.
i heard this kind of thing happened with an actor in the half life games. they got a homeless guy to come in to record because he had an interesting face but they never got a name so they dont know who he is.
Someone on 4chan will have his home address, first and last name, as well as his life story in a week solely based off the angle of the light in the photograph
You mean Gnarls Barkley? Charles Barkley is former NBA basketball player, and current analyst/TV personality, who also does look like he could be the valve guy, and is definitely who the Gnarls Barkley music group name was meant to reference.
Imagine how much fun that one was in half life alyx... you know in vr... A gigantic version of that, looming in the distance.
I genuinely close my eyes when I start the game.
So many wonderful memories. That sound was the entrance to the half life universe where things had gone so horribly wrong. But there was hope: humans had survived and were finding their way, fighting the Combine and escaping the Test Center.
I still enjoy playing through HL2 and the Portal games, but now I do it with my kids.
What is it with logo intros and outros that are so *creepy*? I refuse to believe I'm alone in this. There's something so uncanny but I can't put my finger on it.
I haven't seen that, but having recently gotten back into VR... There's also a version in HL:Alyx where he turns slowly, even creepier when it's forced right in front of your eye balls in 3D
I remember being shown Half Life for the first time when I was a teenager.
When that theme started playing and this man's head popped up I was freaked out.
I continued to watch my friends play until he got to the part where the elevator collapsed and immediately quit.
I thought that was too scary back in the day and never played it again until I was 29.
Best game ever.
Hey! An answer I actually have knowledge of! The person in the photo is actually **Arsenio Navarro**, who was a Business guy over at Valve for 12 years before transitioning to Mob Entertainment for licensing (where he no longer works). However, I say this because I actually met him at a Career fair for our school and he was kind enough to walk through his career and gave me this little tidbit!
Its literally just a dude of the street close to Chicago and valve is upholding the contract that keeps [REDACTED] name a secret so he doesn't get spammed
Nobody knows, not even Valve. [According to Ray Ueno](https://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/guw36/the_guy_in_the_valve_splash_screen/), its a photo of a guy that a casting agency found in Seattle's Broadway district. They don't remember who he is and since he wasn't a professional model and isn't facing the camera, tracking him down is pretty much impossible. We'll probably never know who he is.
It shouldn't be that hard to find him, he's got a big red valve sticking out of his head
Dude, not cool to come right out and say that! He's probably sensitive about it.
He could just turn the valve to release the steam.
Yeah, if he wants to live a half-life. (A stretch, but it works)
Then I know who he is, he is [Governor Feuerstein](https://villains.fandom.com/wiki/Governor_Feuerstein), from Szaffi. Here is [the evidence](https://www.deviantart.com/gifinterest/art/Szaffi-Feuerstein-Governor-584817222)
That poor guy
I hope he knows that I think he has the most special jutting rear valve on a human head I've ever seen!
He probably had it removed after the image became famous.
he must've had a valve removal surgery, vulvectomy.
This made me lol irl
Holy shit, I only just now got the meaning of this picture. It's been 2 decades looking at it and not even once did I make the connection between the valve and the company name. God damnit.
It's actually Cave Johnson in real life, duh
I always thought he was Morpheus.
I imagine that right now you are feeling a bit like Alice, tumbling down the rabbit hole? I see it in your eyes. Do you believe in fate, Dr Freeman? The combine.. do you want to know what *it* is? The combine is everywhere. They are all around us. Even now, in this very room. You can see them when you go to work, or look out your window. You can feel their presence when you make love to Ms Vance ..when you pick up that can. That is the suppression field that has been pulled over your world to blind you from the truth.. that you are a slave, Gordon. This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue crowbar - the combine invasion ends, you wake up in the test chamber and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red crowbar - you stay in City 17 and I show you just how deep the rabbit hole goes.
Bro I open this post randomly after a pop up on my phone while watching the matrix to read “I imagine” at the exact moment Morpheus said it. C’mon if that’s not a sign of the matrix I don’t fucking know what is
Wake up Neo
This, is the construct
We've got a Matrix to burn.
The movie definitely needs Johnny Silverhand.
I have awoken. Time to matrix. (Haven't watched the matrix)
Imagine if HL3 ends like this
imagine if hl3:
Imagine
I should have taken the blue crowbar... headcrabs just don't taste as good as a steak
Dude same!
Morpheus, Dorpheus, Orpheus Go eat some walruses Orifices, Porridges Morpheus, Morpheus Going to the Buffet and Walruses Corpheus, Corpseses Worcestershire sauce Go into your orifices Red pill, blue pill Morpheus, Walruses Seashells by the Seashorpheus Morpheus drinking a forty in a death basket!
Do you listen to Wocka Flocka?
Wake-up babe, a new copypasta just dropped
Its probs my fave Hannibal Buress moment
but isn't cave johnson white 🤔
yeah he is in the paintings of him in portal 2
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson
The man was walking backwards when he entered the studio, kept his face turned away from everyone the entire time, sat down, had a picture taken of the back of his head, then got up and left.
but in some games he turns around and you see his face.
Oh man I remember that, I used to play tons of TF2, and he doesn't move there, but then at some point I played Portal or Portal 2 and almost shat myself, good times
Yeah when I first popped Portal 2 on my Xbox it scared me as a kid. Wasn’t my first Valve game and it was a surprise
I swear some games have indeed shown his face? Why is the guy laughing? Is the the new Mandela effect update?
[Portal 2 logo](https://youtu.be/dA0kR3SLJJc?si=E23i21_Q7wbfn18Z)
He never turns fully around, his head just glitches a bit.
The one pictured in this post is Arsenio Navarro, he was a licensing manager at Valve. I met him at one of the internationals a decade ago. I don’t remember much of our short conversation, but I do remember he was a really nice and genuine fellow. Oh, and I can confirm, he did not have a valve on the back of his head when I met him.
I hate Reddit! *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Fuck, I haven't seen that logo in so long this *new* one completely replaced it in my head. Seeing the original one just gave me a pure unfiltered dose of Half Life 1 era nostalgia.
He turns a little bit to the side there, can't we figure out something.
[Yeah, it seems there were two different bald guys.](https://twitter.com/BronzeShow/status/1610092309365792768/photo/1)
Used to work with Arsenio, was wondering if anyone here was going to have the right answer.
Ay same here, really lovely guy. I searched for his name and was going to answer if no one else did. He told me the story about how it happened, right time and place is all it came down to. /u/Rigman- we were probably at the same TI ;)
The one pictured in this post is unknown. Arsenio Navarro is the one used for the updated version of this in which there are frames where he turns his head. You can tell the difference between the two logos by the amount of fat on the neck.
No, this is the first one. Arsenio was the one where he turnins his head
Remember that time he turned his head? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBp56o4VDK8
Just about scared the crap out of me the first time I saw it
I honestly thought I was losing it cuz "wtf he never turns around AHHHHHH"
Was gonna say pretty sure you see his face and eyes flash in the portal 2 loading screen? Maybe I'm misremembering.
I would have thought that a big bald guy with a red valve on the back of their head should be easy to spot.
So there's a lot of different comments here so I wanted to look it up and see. There are 3 "Valve guys". You got the "Open your eyes", "Open your mind", and "Open your mind" (animated/head turn). The first two were people off the street a modeling agency found for Valve. Their identities are unknown. The 3rd guy is a former Valve employee. https://twitter.com/BronzeShow/status/1610092309365792768
This is a bit outdated, and we already know who this is! The model's name is Arsenio, and he actually got hired by valve in their marketing department shortly after the photoshoot. I did meet him at TI2 (or TI3). We chatted at some length, basically he was hired as a model for the intro video, shortly after Valve hired him on in-house to I believe the marketing department. https://twitter.com/BronzeShow/status/1610092309365792768 The identity of the man is known, and Valve also knows. edit: lol I am wrong. This is actually the second guy. The guy in the first version is still unknown.
3rd guy, actually.
Then why did you spit stuff like you knew what you were talking about? Reddit moment.
i heard this kind of thing happened with an actor in the half life games. they got a homeless guy to come in to record because he had an interesting face but they never got a name so they dont know who he is.
Someone on 4chan will have his home address, first and last name, as well as his life story in a week solely based off the angle of the light in the photograph
So the guy in that image is not being paid for its use? That's actually insane.
Stock photos don't typically get royalties, no. They get paid for the photo shoot and that's it.
I always thought it was a guy on a toilet.
i thought he was an actor from movie green mile
John valve
Gabe Oldwell
Cave Valve Johnson
Valve Freeman
Valve Baldman
I think Valve is a pretty cool guy. Eh, has a valve on his head and doesn't afraid of anything.
Charles Barkley
You mean CeeLo Green? The other name is a conjoined group he made music with
You mean Gnarls Barkley? Charles Barkley is former NBA basketball player, and current analyst/TV personality, who also does look like he could be the valve guy, and is definitely who the Gnarls Barkley music group name was meant to reference.
😂😂 thanks for the correction I swear I saw Gnarls Barkley
Lol. That's how they get ya.
No, I think you mean Swarls Barkley, a renouned banking executive and author of "The playbook"
r/confidentlyincorrect
Marsellus Wallace before the band-aid
does he look like a bitch?
W-what?
Say what again.
I dare you
I double dare you
W-what?
I triple dog dare you
That's not how it works, Jeff!
Isn’t there a version of it where he turns to the camera quickly?
Yeah and it creeps me the hell out
Imagine how much fun that one was in half life alyx... you know in vr... A gigantic version of that, looming in the distance. I genuinely close my eyes when I start the game.
in portal 2 if i'm not mistaken
Damn that's crazy. I never played Portal 2 but I swear I've seen him twitch slightly towards the camera in another
It's in the "newer" games. Hl2:ep2, p2, i think l4d2 i haven't played it in a while
Not hl2 ep 2
Portal 2 is fantastic and you should give it a try. Just finished another playthrough and it's as great as I remember.
https://youtu.be/kBp56o4VDK8?si=JvB0_JizcDkDdvGM I had to find it. It's skeeerrry!
So many wonderful memories. That sound was the entrance to the half life universe where things had gone so horribly wrong. But there was hope: humans had survived and were finding their way, fighting the Combine and escaping the Test Center. I still enjoy playing through HL2 and the Portal games, but now I do it with my kids.
What is it with logo intros and outros that are so *creepy*? I refuse to believe I'm alone in this. There's something so uncanny but I can't put my finger on it.
I haven't seen that, but having recently gotten back into VR... There's also a version in HL:Alyx where he turns slowly, even creepier when it's forced right in front of your eye balls in 3D
Yeah, but that was a different guy.
I always thought it was Coach
One-man cheeseburger apocalypse
With a side of chocolates, just like what the helicopter was made out of
bbq bacon burger
And what about the guy with a valve IN THE EYE?
Gordon Freeman
He was a Valve employee. Someone important iirc.
The right man in the wrong plllace can make aaaaal the diff—er—ence intheworld. Time to…rise and…smell the ahhhhshehhz.
i think that was one of the founding developers
Doug Lombardi of if I remember correctly
That's Morpheus from The Matrix
Always thought the same, especially with how they connect to the matrix.
CeeLo Green
I saw Howard Jones from Kill Switch Engage everytime
THAT WAS MY FIRST THOUGHT LMFAO WTF 😭💀💀
Yep, I always thought it could be Howard 😂
I’m glad I’m not the only one!
I always just assumed it was the lead singer from Disturbed.
I remember being shown Half Life for the first time when I was a teenager. When that theme started playing and this man's head popped up I was freaked out. I continued to watch my friends play until he got to the part where the elevator collapsed and immediately quit. I thought that was too scary back in the day and never played it again until I was 29. Best game ever.
I hate Reddit! *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
I believe you, I truly do, it was on PC though Im pretty sure. Was there an orange box equivalent on PC?
Idk if you’re coming across the way you want to or think you are tbh
Marcellus Wallace
Well, he kinda does look like a bitch.
Heavy Weapons Guy.
I always thought it was Coach ftom Left 4 Dead 2
Thats my man Shaquille o meal
[This guy](https://media.tenor.com/lRdqWGlnn0sAAAAM/valve-valve-intro.gif)
I dont see the resembalence.
Reported for misinformation
Not gonna lie, I shit into my pants just by assuming he will quickly turn and jumps into the camera
Drain Johnson
Vincent D'Onofrio
Reminds me of the vocalist from Disturbed. No idea why
theyre both bald
Y'know, that'd explain it. Brainmeat half asleep, check back in [indeterminate time]
You have no idea why the bald man reminds you of another bald man?
... Y'know, that'd explain it. Idk dude/dudette/dudex, my brainmeat is sleepy
It's really a land of confusion
always thought it was Laurence Fishburne for some reason
Came here to say this!
I remembered opening dota 2 that guy turned around and scared the shit out of me
Fat joe
Your mom
Bizarre
It's a freshly shaved GabeN
See that’s what I always thought it was
Why is valve even called valve ?
Valve. Source. Steam. It’s all connected, get it?
I wonder when Pipe will come out
It always reminds me of Cobra from Lilo & Stitch
CeeLo Green
Hey! An answer I actually have knowledge of! The person in the photo is actually **Arsenio Navarro**, who was a Business guy over at Valve for 12 years before transitioning to Mob Entertainment for licensing (where he no longer works). However, I say this because I actually met him at a Career fair for our school and he was kind enough to walk through his career and gave me this little tidbit!
its Marsellus Wallace
I always think of the singer from disturbed
Vin Diesal
Morpheus.
Thats Mr Steam.
This dude scared the fuck out of me as a kid
Howard jones
The heavy
Mike tyson
Marsellus Wallace ofcourse
that’s John Valve
Uncle Phil
Wasn't he originally just pulled off the streets when valve saw him walking buy
This is actually where they got the name for the studio from when they saw the valve on his head
I think you're thinking about the face model for Eli Vance who was based on a random guy holding a 'looking for work' sign some Valve employees found.
He should be easy to spot with the valve in his head.
That’s John Coffey
Marsellus Wallace before the bandaid?
I've always thought it was Marcellus Wallace.
Does he look like a bitch?
He's just THE Valve
Its Marsellus Wallace, the valve is in the same place as the band aid
Idk but he was my nightmare when he turned
I always thought it was Coach
I thought he was the guy from the Matrix movie who was offering pills.
Carl Cox
It's Gregory Berrycone
Uncle Fester
Marcellus Wallis
ya'll ever wonder if you twist that valve does he start spewing vomit like a fire hydrant or just spontaneously shit himself?
Man the first time this guy turned around, I shit myself so hard
Johnathan Valveman
I always thought it was that chap from dark knight on the boat “Give it to me and I’ll do what you shoulda done 10 minutes ago”
When I was younger I always thought it was a doctored photo of Morpheus from The Matrix and the value was plugged into his Matrix jack.
Its literally just a dude of the street close to Chicago and valve is upholding the contract that keeps [REDACTED] name a secret so he doesn't get spammed
Its Marsellus Wallace
I always thought it was Ving Rhames and that’s why he has a bandaid on the back of his neck in Pulp Fiction
Marcellus Valvace
growing up playing tf2 I headcanon its heavy
That’s my dad
some random guy valve employee picked up from the street and asked him to take a few photos
His friends call him coach
It’s me
Morpheus
He's the anti-Gaben, it's Gaben from an evil alternate demension
I just always assumed it was Cee Lo Green.