Cryptic Message From Gabe Newell

Today I received a message from Gabe Newell, the big boss over at Valve.  It was a test message.  Since we are on Valve’s mailing list I thought nothing of it, and just assumed that Gabe was preparing to send out a batch message to people on the company mailing list.  Deciding to have a little fun with it, I emailed Gabe back.

As a joke, I replied to the email.  “Your test was a success Gabe!  You can proceed with our exclusive Half Life 2 Episode 3 Info.  Jk.  Can’t wait for Portal 2.”  Moments later, an automated message from Valve came in stating that Gabe was out of the office.   A few minutes later a blank message with a cryptic image attached titled “sort eco probes” hit my inbox.  As I opened it I got so excited I pee’d a little.

Truthfully, I’m not sure what to make of it.  Could there be some strange code embedded in this image that my feeble brain cannot decipher?   Have a look and tell us what you think.

The image above is comprised of other pieces of the puzzle from across the web, here is the actual sized image that I received.

Update: It looks like something is definitely bigger and in play.  Today, multiple ARGs have been sent out.

Looks like we’ll need a few more pieces to the puzzle before we can figure out exactly what it is. We’ll keep you updated on how this pans out, but in the meantime you should definitely register for our Portal 2 contest for a chance to win a copy of the game for Xbox 360, PS3, or Steam.  You can find out more information about the contest here.

A Translation has been made at Valvearg.com of the numbers within the images.