{{short description|Creator of Counter-Strike}} {{for|the chess player|Lê Tuấn Minh}} {{Infobox person | name = Minh Le | image = File:Minh Le in 2019.jpg | caption = Minh Le in 2019 | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1977|6|27}} | birth_place = Vietnam | employer = {{ubl|Valve (2000–2006)|FIX Korea (2009–2013)|Facepunch Studios (2013–2018)<ref>{{cite news|title=Devblog 196|url=https://rust.facepunch.com/blog/devblog-196/|access-date=1 February 2018|publisher=Facepunch Studios|date=1 February 2018}}</ref>|Pearl Abyss (2018–2023)<ref name="Interview with Minh Le">{{cite web |title=CS creator - about Gabe, selling the game and anticheat | website=YouTube |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_qKWRWzTyk&t=1468 |access-date=20 January 2025 |ref=17 |date=20 January 2025}}</ref>}} | other_names = Gooseman | occupation = Video game programmer | alma_mater = Simon Fraser University | years_active = 1996-present | known_for = Co-creator of ''Counter-Strike'' | spouse = Unnamed (m. 2016) }} '''Minh Le''' ({{langx|vi|Lê Minh}}; born June 27, 1977), also known by his online nickname '''Gooseman''', is a Vietnamese-Canadian video game programmer who co-created the ''Half-Life'' mod ''Counter-Strike'' with Jess Cliffe in 1999 and started the ''Counter-Strike'' series.<ref name="Minh Le's tweet confirming birth year">{{cite web |url=https://twitter.com/GoosemanTI/status/672546331093680129 |title=Minh Le's tweet confirming birth year |author=Minh Le |date=2015-12-03}}</ref> He was later employed by Valve, the developers of ''Half-Life'', and worked for 8 years in Korea on the multiplayer first-person shooter ''Tactical Intervention''. He is a contractor on the multiplayer survival first-person shooter ''Rust''. In the small-team games that he has worked on, Le has been a programmer, modeler, and designer.
His nickname comes from Shane Gooseman, one of the main characters of 1980s cartoon series ''The Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/MikeRose/20140122/209061/Minh_quotGoosemanquot_Le_plays_CSGO_with_Gamasutra.php|archive-url=https://archive.today/20140123131411/http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/MikeRose/20140122/209061/Minh_quotGoosemanquot_Le_plays_CSGO_with_Gamasutra.php|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 23, 2014|title=Minh "Gooseman" Le plays CS:GO with Gamasutra|last=Rose|first=Mike|date=22 January 2014|work=Gamasutra|publisher=Think Services|access-date=23 January 2014}}</ref>
==Biography== Minh Le was born in Vietnam. In 1979, he and his parents left Vietnam on a boat and immigrated to Canada as refugees.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/kultur/historie/forbandet-af-sit-eget-livsvaerk-manden-bag-kaempesuccesen-counter-strike-er|title=Forbandet af sit eget livsværk: Manden bag kæmpesuccesen 'Counter-Strike' er på ingen måde rig i dag|website=DR|date=15 June 2019|language=da-DK|access-date=2019-08-21}}</ref>
Le attended Simon Fraser University from 1996 to 2001, graduating in 2001 with a Bachelor of Applied Science degree in Computing Science. His curriculum and electives were "focused mainly on computer graphics courses covering subjects such as compression algorithms, 3D animation techniques, image recognition."<ref>[https://www.linkedin.com/in/minhle1/?originalSubdomain=ca Mihn Le], LinkedIn.</ref>
Le picked up id Software's ''Quake'' in 1996 and began playing with its software development kit, and after about a year he completed his first mod, ''Navy SEALs'', ''Counter-Strike''{{'}}s spiritual predecessor.<ref name="Gama 01">{{cite web |url=https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/interview-with-minh-le |title=Interview with Minh Le |author=John McLean-Foreman |date=2001-05-30 |access-date=2009-09-28 |publisher=Gamasutra}}</ref><ref name="FS 01">{{cite web|url=http://www.firingsquad.com/features/gooseint/ |title=Gooseman Counter-Strike Interview |author=James Yu |date=2001-01-25 |access-date=2006-12-02 |publisher=FiringSquad |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061016234229/http://www.firingsquad.com/features/gooseint/ |archive-date=October 16, 2006 }}</ref> While he was working on the ''Action Quake 2'' mod, he came up with the idea for ''Counter-Strike'' and became friends with ''Action Quake 2''{{'}}s webmaster Jess Cliffe and Marcelo Dilay.
Le began work on ''Counter-Strike'' as a mod for ''Half-Life'' while he was in the middle of his fourth year at Simon Fraser University<ref name="FS 01" /> (he later graduated with a degree in computer science).<ref name="Euro 00">{{cite web |url=http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=265 |title=Interview - Minh Le of Counter Strike team |date=2000-10-03 |access-date=2006-12-02 |publisher=Eurogamer}}</ref> He spent about 20 hours a week on making the mod, expending more effort on it than he did on his schoolwork,<ref name="Gama 01" /> and released the first beta version in June 1999. The "Counter-Strike Team" quickly produced several more beta releases in the following months as the game's popularity skyrocketed.<ref name="Gama 01" />
By the fourth beta version, Valve, the developer who created ''Half-Life'', began assisting in the development of ''Counter-Strike''.<ref name="RH 01">{{cite web|url=http://www.redherring.com/Home/3717 |title=Development a la mod |work=Red Herring |date=2001-05-08 |access-date=2009-09-28 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100123001446/http://www.redherring.com/Home/3717 |archive-date=January 23, 2010 }}</ref> In 2000, Valve bought the rights to ''Counter-Strike'' and hired Le and Cliffe to work with them in Bellevue, Washington, where Le continued to work on new patches for the game. Following the release of CS 1.0, he began developing a prototype of ''Counter-Strike 2'', however, after roughly three years of work, the project was shelved when it had reached only about 25% completion.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20010527020610/http://www.voodooextreme.com:80/comments.taf?postID=15167&_start=156 Gabe Newell's reply] on Voodoo Extreme. Archived from the original on 2001-05-27.</ref><ref name="IGN 09">{{cite web |url=http://uk.pc.ign.com/articles/102/1028810p1.html |title=The Next Counterstrike: A conversation with Minh Le and a look at Tactical Intervention. |author=Ben Min |date=2009-09-28 |access-date=2009-09-28}}</ref><ref name=arcade>Arcade Attack - [https://www.arcadeattack.co.uk/minh-le/ Minh Le (Counter Strike) – Interview]</ref><ref name="Interview with Minh Le 2021">{{cite web |title=Creator of Counter-Strike - Interview with Minh Le (timestamp 23:10) | website=YouTube |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bWPfZMG0Bo |access-date=16 February 2021 |date=16 February 2021}}</ref>
With ''Counter-Strike 2'' discontinued, Minh Le turned his attention to developing ''Day of Defeat: Source''.<ref name="Interview with Minh Le 2021" /> After its release, he decided to leave Valve in 2006 to work on a project of his own.<ref name="IGN 09" /><ref name="Interview with Minh Le 2021" /> After two years working with a small team on this project, he moved to South Korea in 2008 to work with a business named FIX Korea who provided funding for further development. Le's new game was later revealed to be ''Tactical Intervention'', a game similar in style to ''Counter-Strike'' created with a modified version of Valve's Source engine.<ref name="Shacknews TI">{{cite web |url=http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/60649 |title=Counter-Strike Creator Reveals 'Tactical Intervention' |author=Breckon, Nick |date=2009-09-28 |access-date=2009-09-28 |publisher=Shacknews}}</ref>
In October 2013, he joined Facepunch Studios, where he worked on ''Rust''.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.facepunch.com/team/member/minh.le/ |title=Archived copy |access-date=2019-03-27 |archive-date=2018-12-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181230164008/https://facepunch.com/team/member/minh.le/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> He left Facepunch Studios in February 2018.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://rust.facepunch.com/blog/devblog-196/#Goosey_Going|title=Devblog 196 - News}}</ref>
In March 2018, he joined Pearl Abyss to start working on a new project for the game studio that made the MMORPG ''Black Desert Online''.<ref name="Wccftech">{{cite web |url=http://wccftech.com/gooseman-joins-pearl-abyss-new-project/ |title=Counter-Strike Co-Creator Minh 'Gooseman' Le Joins Pearl Abyss To Work on New Project |author=Palumbo, Alessio |date=2018-04-03 |access-date=2018-04-04}}</ref>
Le later continued working in small-team and independent game development. His later projects included ''Alpha Response'', a tactical PvE shooter released in early access. In 2026, Le said he had considered returning to work on ''Counter-Strike 2'', particularly on weapon animations and maps, while also stating that he believed ''Counter-Strike'' was "in a really good space".<ref>{{cite web |last=Davidović |first=Radosław |title=Exclusive Interview: Minh "Gooseman" Le on CS2, Indie Development, and the Game He Helped Create |url=https://hellcase.com/blog/hellcase-news/interview-with-minh-le-gooseman/ |website=Hellcase Blog |date=24 May 2026 |access-date=1 June 2026}}</ref>
==Recognition==
In 2003, a GameSpy editorial cited Minh Le as the most important reason ''Half-Life'' was still popular five years after it was released.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gamespy.com/articles/489/489723p4.html |title=Top Ten Reasons Half-Life is Still #1 |author=Kevin Bowen |date=2003-02-09 |access-date=2006-12-02 |publisher=GameSpy |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050324180400/http://www.gamespy.com/articles/489/489723p4.html |archive-date=March 24, 2005 }}</ref> IGN ranked Jess Cliffe and Minh Le as number 14 in their "Top 100 Game Creators of All Time" list.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ign.com/top/game-creators/14.html |title=Top 100 Game Creators of All Time |publisher=IGN |access-date=2014-09-26}}</ref>
==Works== {| class="wikitable sortable" |+ !Year !Title !Role |- !2000 |''Counter-Strike'' |Game designer |- !2005 |''Day of Defeat: Source'' |3D artist |- !2013 |''Tactical Intervention'' |Game designer |- !2018 |''Rust'' |3D artist |- !TBD |''Alpha Response'' |Game designer |- |}
==References== {{Reflist}}
== External links == * {{Twitter}}
{{Valve}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Le, Minh}} Category:Canadian computer programmers Category:Canadian people of Vietnamese descent Category:Canadian software engineers Category:Canadian video game designers Category:Vietnamese engineers Category:Living people Category:Simon Fraser University alumni Category:Valve Corporation people Category:Video game programmers Category:1977 births