Valve's former economist, now a member of parliament in Greece, is being put on trial for promoting drug use because he admitted to taking ecstasy 36 years ago

Valve’s former economist, now a member of parliament in Greece, is being put on trial for promoting drug use because he admitted to taking ecstasy 36 years ago | PC Gamer Skip to main content Open menu Close main menu PC Gamer THE GLOBAL AUTHORITY ON PC GAMES US Edition UK US Canada Australia Subscribe Sign in View Profile Sign out Search Search PC Gamer Games Hardware News Reviews Guides Video Forum More PC Gaming Show PC Gamer Clips Software Codes Coupons Movies & TV Magazine Newsletter Affiliate links Meet the team Community guidelines About PC Gamer PC Gamer Magazine SubscriptionWhy subscribe?Subscribe to the world’s #1 PC gaming magTry a single issue or save on a subscriptionIssues delivered straight to your door or device From$1Subscribe now Don’t miss these Assassin’s Creed Former Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry director says Ubisoft ‘became very allergic’ to new games, which contributed to a ‘talent drain’ FPS Dr Disrespect lies about Marathon partnership Gaming Industry New York sues Valve for ‘letting children and adults illegally gamble’ with loot boxes Games Stop Killing Games is launching NGOs in the European Union and the US: ‘We’re not just going away on this’ Hardware Age verification checks are now in force in the UK because of the Online Safety Act, but with the Discord fallout, it seems like one bad idea after another Gaming Industry ‘It’s pretty sad and pathetic that a game with difficult content can’t get on the larger marketplaces:’ Despite creeping censorship on Steam and Epic, these devs are fighting to make a transgressive stop-motion horror game Gaming Industry Nightdive Studios’ Stephen Kick has 8,544 hours in Dota 2, and just clocked his 5,000th win: ‘I think it’s made me a better leader’ AI A Grok update was apparently delayed because Elon Musk wanted it to be better at answering questions about Baldur’s Gate Gaming Industry New Blood CEO Dave Oshry says he’s ‘always loved GOG’ but ‘they need enough people to give a s**t, or how long are they even going to be around’ Gaming Industry Doom co-creator John Romero adores Ghost Recon and has over 3,000 hours in World of Warcraft: ‘God, I lived in that game every day for five years’ Action Just Cause dev co-founder says the studio got too big and ‘numbers focused,’ so he quit and made a $25 open world crime brawler Gaming Industry Street Fighter 2 producer Yoshiki Okamoto now makes gacha games and spends half a million dollars on each ‘to make sure the people who spend the most don’t end up dissatisfied’ Roguelike Imagine if politics were full of monsters! Haha, no, I mean fun monsters like vampires, orcs, and goblins who use cards to hurl insults and smears at each other Platforms The New York Attorney General’s Office has flipped at least one Counter-Strike knife skin on the Steam Marketplace for purposes of state Gaming Industry Remedy’s new CEO is a former sports betting guy and EA executive who aims to ‘scale Remedy in a way that builds lasting value’ PopularNEW: PC Gamer Clips!Resident EvilArc RaidersBest PC gearGame Quizzes Gaming Industry Valve’s former economist, now a member of parliament in Greece, is being put on trial for promoting drug use because he admitted to taking ecstasy 36 years ago News By Jody Macgregor published 27 February 2026 He’s come a long way from analyzing TF2 hat sales data. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. (Image credit: Getty Images) Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter PC Gamer Get the PC Gamer Newsletter Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. You are now subscribed Your newsletter sign-up was successful Want to add more newsletters? Every Friday GamesRadar+ Your weekly update on everything you could ever want to know about the games you already love, games we know you’re going to love in the near future, and tales from the communities that surround them. Signup + Every Thursday GTA 6 O’clock Our special GTA 6 newsletter, with breaking news, insider info, and rumor analysis from the award-winning GTA 6 O’clock experts. Signup + Every Friday Knowledge From the creators of Edge: A weekly videogame industry newsletter with analysis from expert writers, guidance from professionals, and insight into what’s on the horizon. Signup + Every Thursday The Setup Hardware nerds unite, sign up to our free tech newsletter for a weekly digest of the hottest new tech, the latest gadgets on the test bench, and much more. Signup + Every Wednesday Switch 2 Spotlight Sign up to our new Switch 2 newsletter, where we bring you the latest talking points on Nintendo’s new console each week, bring you up to date on the news, and recommend what games to play. Signup + Every Saturday The Watchlist Subscribe for a weekly digest of the movie and TV news that matters, direct to your inbox. From first-look trailers, interviews, reviews and explainers, we’ve got you covered. Signup + Once a month SFX Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month! Signup + An account already exists for this email address, please log in. Subscribe to our newsletter Yanis Varoufakis is probably the only Greek parliamentarian with a background in the videogame industry, having been the economist-in-residence at Valve before he was elected in 2015 and then made finance minister. Nowadays he’s general secretary of MeRA25, the European Realistic Disobedience Front, a political party he founded as part of the Democracy in Europe Movement 2025.And now, per Reuters, he’ll have to stand trial on a charge of promoting drug use for mentioning on a podcast that he took ecstasy once, at a Kylie Minogue concert in Australia, in 1989.In his own video response, Varoufakis explained the comment was made in response to a direct question about whether he ever took drugs, and in a context that made it clear he does not promote them. “Determined not to do a Bill Clinton,” he said, “remember that laughable ‘I didn’t inhale’ quip? I said I had. Apart from pot, I told them I had one experience 36 years ago in Sydney of taking ecstasy. It was pleasant. I danced for 16 hours non-stop effortlessly. But then, I added, it gave me such a migraine for a week that I never used again. That was my introduction to making the point that no matter how pleasant drug-taking may seem there is a price to pay.” Related articles Epic Games boss Tim Sweeney voices support for $900 million Steam lawsuit: ‘Valve is the only major store still holding onto the payments tie and 30% junk fee’ Schedule 1 developer