Skip to main content

Valve acquires ‘Firewatch’ developer Campo Santo in rare move

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Campo Santo, the indie studio behind the breakout hit Firewatch, has been acquired by Valve. The 12-person team will move to Valve’s headquarters in Bellevue, Washington where it will continue work on its upcoming game In the Valley of Gods.

Recommended Videos

“In Valve we found a group of folks who, to their core, feel the same way about the work that they do (this, you may be surprised to learn, doesn’t happen every day). In us, they found a group with unique experience and valuable, diverse perspectives. It quickly became an obvious match,” Campo Santo said in a blog post announcing the news.

For fans of Campo Santo’s work, it seems that the studio will more continue its work within Valve than get changed by the massive corporation. Along with still promising blog content, Campo Santo said it will release its quarterly literary magazine, The Quarterly Review, going forward just as before. The biggest change, as of now, is that In the Valley of Gods will be released under Valve’s banner.

Announced at E3 last year, In the Valley of Gods follows the tradition of Firewatch as a “walking simulator” with gorgeous visuals and a mystery at the center of its story. According to the game’s official website, In the Valley of Gods is expected to launch sometime in 2019.

As for Valve, the move to acquire Campo Santo came out of left field. Unlike some other big gaming companies, Valve rarely acquires smaller studios. In fact, Campo Santo will be its only active acquisition. Previously, Valve owned Turtle Rock Studios, which developed the Left 4 Dead franchise.

For the past few years, Valve has placed its focus on its storefront, the HTC Vive, and supporting its small slate of legacy games like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Dota 2. In recent months, however, Valve has seen a shift back to the development side of things. In addition to the upcoming Dota-themed card game Artifact, Valve has several unannounced games in development.

In that light, it makes sense to acquire an up-and-coming indie studio like Campo Santo. Bringing in minds that are squarely focused on developing unique experiences falls in line with Valve’s renewed dedication to the software space.

Steven Petite
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Steven is a writer from Northeast Ohio currently based in Louisiana. He writes about video games and books, and consumes…
Mario Kart World Direct: When and where to watch
Baby Peach rides away from a T-rex in Mario Kart World.

If you're itching for more information about Mario Kart World, we've got great news: Nintendo is holding an official Mario Kart World Direct tomorrow at 9 AM ET, 6 AM PT. The Direct will last for 15 minutes and provide more details and information on what to expect from the game.

You can watch a live stream of the Direct on YouTube, but you'll also be able to stream the Direct through the Nintendo Today app. No need to glue yourself to a computer if you're on the go.

Read more
Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound is a good reminder that 2D games still rule
A pair of eyes appears in the sky in Ninja Gaiden Ragebound.

Ninja Gaiden is back with a vengeance. Last month, Koei Tecmo surprise released Ninja Gaiden 2 Black, an Unreal Engine 5 remake of an Xbox 360 classic. It’ll follow up on that later this year with Ninja Gaiden 4, the first original game in the series in over a decade. That would be a busy year for any franchise, let alone a long formant one returning to form, but it isn’t stopping there. This year will also bring Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound, a 2D spin on the series from the retro masters at Dotemu and The Game Kitchen.

It’s a perfect series for that kind of treatment. After all, Ninja Gaiden began its life in arcades and on the NES as an old school beat-em-up. Can that formula still resonate with modern audiences who know the series more for its beloved 3D installments that defined the Xbox 360 generation? Based on my first hands-on demo, which toured me through a handful of Ragebound’s levels over an hour, Dotemu is cooking up another polished retro revival that isn’t just out to cash in on nostalgia. It’s a return to a classic genre that was neither broke, nor in need of fixing.

Read more
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2’s hardcore mode is out now and it’s no joke
Horsemen ride down a hill in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2.

If Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 isn't Souls-like enough for you, the new Hardcore Mode update will correct that. The update is now live, and the new mode ramps the difficulty up to roughly that of trying to survive the Bubonic Plague era on an immunosuppressant. It's been part of the roadmap for a long time, but players are just getting to experience what the mode actually means.

It's intended to make gameplay more immersive by shutting off conveniences like fast travel, your own location on the map, or even directions to your next quest. In other words, if you want to know where to go and what to do next, you'd better pay attention to what you're told. The patch notes read, "Hardcore Mode is here — and it's not for the faint of heart."

Read more