Co-creator of Counter-Strike Jess Cliffe arrested for sexual exploitation of a child

Jess Cliffe, famed for co-creating Counter-Strike has been arrested in Seattle for the sexual exploitation of a child. As of yet, authorities have yet to charge Cliffe with any crime, but his employer, Valve Corporation has suspended his employment until further notice.

Reports originated from a local Seattle news outlet, Kiro 7, stating that Cliffe was detained in the early hours of Thursday morning. Despite a bail hearing slotted in for Friday afternoon, Kotaku reports that initial bail has been denied.

Cliffe has been a part of Valve since 2003, initially co-creating alongside Minh “Gooseman” Le in 1999 as a mod to the incredibly popular Half-Life. Valve later snapped up the rights to the series and Cliffe stayed to offer his talents on titles such as Half-Life 2, Team Fortress 2, Left 4 Dead 2 and Portal 2. Valve has since suspended his employment pending the hearing of his case.

“We are still learning details of what actually happened. Reports suggest he has been arrested for a felony offense. As such we have suspended his employment until we know more,” Valve said in a statement to Kotaku.

Police have yet to officially comment on the matter and it has not been revealed if any child was harmed by Cliffe. The Counter-Strike co-creator has no criminal history; however, he has been arrested on assault charges that were later dismissed back in 2013.

KitGuru Says: While I don’t want to brand anyone guilty before official information is revealed, it’s good that action can be taken against anyone, as no one is above the law. If proven true, it’ll make Counter-Strike: Global Offensive particularly difficult to play considering his voice can be heard uttering “terrorists win” and “the bomb has been planted,” something in which Valve might consider changing entirely depending on the outcome.

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