Valve acquire Campo Santo

Firewatch developers, Campo Santo, have been acquired by Valve. After some debate the twelve staff at the independent studio decided to join Valve, maintaining their jobs as video game developers and staying on their current game project, In The Valley Of Gods.

Campo Santo wrote in their blog that they really enjoy the day to day life of developing games, but more specifically creating entertainment. They say that they’re incredibly lucky in that they can choose how they interact with their fans, releasing demos, meeting them at expos, selling merchandise, and even publishing lengthily articles every month.

The studio found two people at Valve who think like them, and a connection was made. Campo Santo way that this kind of connection is rare between an indie developer and a big corporation like Valve, but they honestly believe they’ve found their match within the company.

Campo Santo also admit to stealing a Game of the Year award for Portal 2 from IGN, which was never delivered, to celebrate the launch of Firewatch. They feel like this move is a return home of sorts, for the award at least, which was a bottle of champagne.

After long discussions with Valve Campo Santo have realised that they’re very much on the same wavelength, and all they want is to be able to continue making the games they love for as long as they can. Which Valve are actively encouraging.

They end their blog post by telling everyone that nothing is going to chance, apart from the fact that they as a developer are now making In The Valley Of Gods as a Valve game. Everything else about Campo Santo will remain as it is.

Firewatch was Campo Santo’s first game, set in the 1970’s players take on the role of Henry, a made with a complicated past who wants to escape by becoming a forest fire watchman. Along their journey players meet Delilah, and uncover a mystery that brings the two closer together, but all the while making players question who the protagonist really is.

In The Valley Of Gods is the developer’s next title, and is set in what seems like Egypt with two characters exploring ancient tombs. No details about the game have been revealed, but fans are excited to see what else Campo Santo can create.