Hideo Kojima, famed creator known for the Metal Gear series and whatever the heck Death Stranding is, visited Valve headquarters and met with Valve co-founder Gabe Newell. While together, they discussed top-secret things. Or they just hung out. No can say for sure, except the people who were there, but that didn't stop random internet folk from going wild with their ideas.
The source of all the speculation and memery is a Twitter post by Kojima himself. He posted three pictures with the caption "Visited VALVE. Took pic with Gabe." The pictures themselves seem fairly innocent, the kind of touristy stuff anyone would take if they could visit the offices of an iconic game developer.
Of course, Hideo Kojima is no ordinary Twitter user. His fans know him for his habit of leaving cryptic clues in his games, a habit that extends to his social media use. He's used his Twitter account to post pictures with hidden meanings before, usually alluding to symbolism or plot elements of his upcoming projects. He's become a bit of a meme for it.
Related: Gamers Uncover Death Stranding Clues Hidden In Latest Poster
Gabe Newell, meanwhile, is also a meme of a man. The uncertain, increasingly hopeless fate of Half-Life 3 has found its way into everything Newell does, mostly because the fans put it there. Newell himself is aware of that fact, and has even used specific mentions of the number '3' to troll fans.
So imagine what happened when these two men got together. The meme response was swift and immediate. The most common joke was that Kojima would somehow convince Newell to make Half-Life 3 happen. Internet detectives were also quick to point out the way the men made three digits in one of the pictures.
Whether or not that was deliberate is another matter. And honestly, the fans probably don't care. It's just fun to see two creative powerhouses meet and have a good time together. It would be nice if they actually did discuss some amazing collaboration, but meme fodder is good enough on its own.