Garry’s Mod, the beloved PC-exclusive physics sandbox, turns 18 years old this year. Yesterday, Garry’s Mod creator Garry Newman responded to the official X post celebrating the birthday and added that the game has now sold more than 25.5 million copies. Newman said in his post “When Valve first floated the idea of selling Garry’s Mod on Steam I said no because.. “who would pay for that?”… Glad to have been wrong on this one.”
As its name suggests, Garry’s Mod started life in 2004 as a mod created by Newman for Value’s game engine called Source. In 2006 it was released on its own. Since then, the content that has sprung forth from the minds of its users has resulted in many memetic viral sensations, from Half-Life: Full Life Consequences, with a humble 5.9 million views, [SFM] We Like To Party with a respectable 68 million views, and of course, Skibidi Toilet with a whopping 104 million views on its original YouTube Short. It isn’t an exaggeration to say that Garry’s Mod has helped shape internet culture into what it is today. Garry’s Mod has been named in the Guinness Book of Records: Gamer Edition 2025 as the best-selling PC exclusive of all time.
Earlier this year, Garry’s Mod was hit with a DMCA request from Nintendo, which forced Facepunch Studios to begin removing 20 years’ worth of user-created content that featured Nintendo’s IP.
Newman and Facepunch Studios are creating a new engine called S&box, which they eventually aim to use to develop all future games.
About the Author
Edie W-K
she/her
If it isn't video games, Edie doesn't care about it. She's been playing games since the N64 era, and only spent enough time away from her 3DS to earn a Bachelor in Games Design from RMIT.
