RELATED: Gaben Is Not Moving Valve To New Zealand, But He Might Move There 'The mission serves as an homage to the innovation and creativity of gamers worldwide,” writes Rocket Lab on their website, “and also aims to test and qualify a novel 3D printing technique that could be employed for future spacecraft components.' He also shows up in Half-Life: Alyx as a magnetic bottle opener on the side of Russell's fridge in his lab. He first made his appearance in Half-Life 2: Episode 2 where he was initially just called 'garden gnome,' but then returned as Gnome Chompski in Left 4 Dead 2's Dark Carnival campaign. It’s not quite a Tesla Roadster, but it’s still pretty rad.įor those unaware of the gag, Gnome Chompski is a garden gnome that has appeared frequently in Valve games. Now he's taking his philanthropy to the next level by paying a New Zealand space company to launch a 3D-printed replica of Gnome Chompski into space.
Newell has been doing a lot of fun stuff for New Zealand ever since he got stranded there at the beginning of the pandemic, from free concerts to media appearances.
A titanium replica will be launched into space courtesy of Rocket Lab, Weta Workshop, and New Zealand's newest and coolest resident, Gabe Newell.
Gnome Chompski is about to go where few men have gone before, and certainly no garden gnomes. Gabe Newell is launching a garden gnome into space because this is what 2020 has come to.
