Firewatch developer’s next game “on hold” after Valve acquisition, Ars Technica

           

Fans of 2017 indie forest exploration titleFirewatch(including us) have been excited for developer Campo Santo’s next project, the Egyptian-influencedIn the Valley of the Gods, since it was (announced in late) . Those fans got even more excitedwhen Valve acquired Campo Santo in 2018, suggesting big things were in the works from both companies ahead of the game’s planned 2019 release.

But with 2019 drawing to a close, and with 19 months of radio silence regarding the game’s progress, Campo Santo fans began to worry thatIn the Valley of the Godshad joineda long list of cancelled Valve game projects. Those worries heightened when a number of Campo Santo developers removed all mention ofIn the Valley of the Godsfrom their Twitter profiles followinglast month’s announcement ofHalf-Life: Alyx.

This week, Campo Santo cofounder Jake Rodkinconfirmed some of those fears to Polygon, saying that development ofIn the Valley of the Godsis officially “on hold,” but it “certainly feels like a project people can and may return to. ” As he put it in a statement:

To fans looking forward toIn the Valley of Gods, it’s probably clear that the optimistic “2019 ”at the end of the announcement trailer isn’t going to be accurate. In the end, Valve Time makes fools of us all. But yes, developers from the former Campo Santo team have joined other projects at Valve, includingHalf-Life: Alyx.

As you can imagine, our experience in the first-person adventure genre is pretty relevant. You hear a lot about how at Valve you can work on what you want. It turns out that’s true, and there’s a lot of work available. As we integrated ourselves into Valve it became clear there was a lot of valuable work to be done onHalf-Life: Alyx. Some of us [started] lending a hand, and have since become full-time on the project as it approaches launch. Similarly, some ex-Campos are working onDota Underlords, some are on Steam, and so on.

So to answer your question as of today,In the Valley of Godsdevelopment is on hold — but it certainly feels like a project people can and may return to. And when that happens, we’ll find an exciting way to let fans know.

While it’s nice to see Valve putting actual resources into new game development again, it’s a bit bittersweet that the effort comes at the apparent expense of an original indie project from a recently acquired developer.

TheSteam page forIn the Valley of the Godsnow lists a “TBD” release date, though it also says the game is “currently in development.”