Valve Corporation is The Swingin’ Stewardessesconcerned about the Trump administration's travel and immigration restrictions, saying that the controversial executive order has already impacted its employees and could affect esports professionals.
Valve's Erik Johnson and president and co-founder Gabe Newell told press at a media event Thursday that the Trump administration's push for a travel ban against citizens from seven predominantly Muslim countries is worrying Valve, which employs people who could be barred from re-entry into the U.S., PC Gamerreported today.
"We have people who work at Valve who can't go home," Newell said. "They've been here for years. They pay taxes. They cheer for New England in the Super Bowl and we try to not hold that against them... But, you know, they can't leave the country."
SEE ALSO: Valve is developing 3 new VR games"We have people who work at Valve who can't go home." - Newell
Newell reflected on the fact it's the first time his employees can't leave the country, for any reason, with the risk of them not being allowed back in.
"That's a problem, not just these hypothetical future employees but actual Valve employees," he said. "So yeah, that's a concern for us."
Several other gaming companies have expressed similar concerns, including EA, Ubisoft, Blizzard and more.
The ban not only causes issues for employees, it causes issues for esports professionals and competitions as well.
Each year, Valve hosts the Dota 2International in Seattle, where the best Dota 2teams from around the world come to compete for glory and a ludicrously high prize pool. If any players from the seven affected countries qualify for the International this year, they may not be allowed into the country to compete.
Even if Trump's executive order is never implemented as intended, any other kind of travel restrictions that would keep people from coming to the U.S. would greatly impact esports events in the country. Visa issues have already marred the world of esports for years -- teams and players have been denied visas to enter and compete in the U.S. time after time simply because esports aren't a universally recognized form of competition.
"Any pressure on visas getting into the United States is worrisome for us," Johnson said.
Things have improved recently for competitive gaming pros, but any step back would be a blow to the global competitive scene.
If issues do arise, Valve is open to hosting The International in a different country.
"We're gonna run the event no matter what," Johnson said. "Ideally we'd run it here [in Seattle] because it has a bunch of advantages being close to our office. But the event's going to happen. So yes, if it became too difficult, we'd find a way."
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