- Campo Santo's In The Valley Of Gods has a probably meaningless 2029 release date - 14 February 2023
It’s been five whole years since the Firewatch devs announced their tomb-raiding adventure, In The Valley Of Gods , and in that time the idea of the game itself has fossilised. The first-person archaeology game was put on hold in 2019 after Valve acquired Campo Santo and had them support other Valve projects like Half-Life: Alyx. Now Campo's in-limbo game has a December 2029 listing on Steam , which almost certainly means nothing, but it’s fun to dust off some memories. Read more
- Firewatch devs put In The Valley Of Gods on hold - 4 December 2019
It is a sad day for pretend archaeology. Firewatch developers Campo Santo have placed In The Valley Of Gods on hold, instead choosing to work on Half-Life: Alyx, Dota Underlords, and other Valve projects. This follows their move to Valve last year, which John (RPS in peace) quizzed them on at length in 2018. That means we’ve got a weird, melancholy portal into when Campo were excited about what the move would mean for their new game. Half-Life with a sprinkling of Firewatch sounds neat and all, but I was looking forward to filming pyramids. (more…)
- Firewatch dev's Egyptian adventure In the Valley of Gods officially "on hold" at Valve - 3 December 2019
Two years ago, developer Campo Santo unveiled In the Valley of Gods, the highly anticipated follow-up to its acclaimed narrative adventure Firewatch. Since then, there's been little in the way of additional news, and now, Campo Santo has confirmed that the project, as was increasingly feared by fans, is officially "on hold". In the Valley of Gods, described as a "thrilling narrative adventure in first person" on its Steam page , was intended to follow the journey of filmmaker Rashida, as she explored the Egypt of the 1920s in search of an incredible archeological discovery with her companion Zora. Its first trailer, revealed during 2017's Video Game Awards , looked breathtaking, and anticipation for its release, especially given the quality of Firewatch, was high. Several months into 2018, though, Campo Santo announced that it had been acquired by Valve . Despite the move, the studio as…
- In the Valley of Gods is officially on hold as Campo Santo works on Valve projects - 3 December 2019
Last month, Firewatch fans began to get a little antsy about Campo Santo's current project, In the Valley of Gods . Attentive followers noticed that the Twitter bios of three lead developers—Firewatch producer and 3D environment artist Jane Ng, art director Claire Hummel, and Campo Santo co-founder Jake Rodkin—had been changed to remove any mention of the game. Valve, which acquired Campo Santo in 2018, was quiet on the matter, but suspicions intensified with the announcement of Half-Life: Alyx , which members of the Firewatch team are working on. Today studio co-founder Jake Rodkin finally clarified the situation, telling Polygon that the game is "on hold," as former Campo Santo developers are now working on other things—and not just Half-Life: Alyx. "To fans looking forward to In the Valley of Gods, it’s probably clear that the optimistic '2019&ap…
- Firewatch fans are worried that In the Valley of Gods has been canceled - 18 November 2019
In the Valley of Gods , Campo Santo's follow-up to the excellent Firewatch, was unveiled at The Game Awards in late 2017. In April 2018 we got a closer look at the game and spoke in detail with the studio about the relationships in the game and its many inspirations, from silent films to 1920s archaeology, all in service of capturing the feeling of what it might really be like to run your thumb across an ancient, inscripted wall. Since then, there's been nothing. That silence isn't out of character for Valve, which acquired Campo Santo right around the time of that preview, but recent changes in the Twitter bios of three of its lead developers—Firewatch producer and 3D environment artist Jane Ng , art director Claire Hummel , and Campo Santo co-founder Jake Rodkin —has some followers worried that the game has been canceled. A check of the Internet Archive co…
- Interview: Campo Santo talk to us about moving to Valve - 9 May 2018
Campo Santo, creators of Firewatch and the forthcoming In The Valley Of Gods , announced last month that all twelve members of their studio were packing their bags and moving to Valve. The team are all currently in the process of relocating to Seattle, where Valley Of The Gods will be finished in Valve’s Bellevue tower as a Valve game. So we caught up with studio heads Sean Vanaman and Jake Rodkin to find out much more. (more…)
- Valve acquires Firewatch developer Campo Santo - 23 April 2018
Firewatch developer Campo Santo has announced that it has "agreed to join Valve", where it will "maintain our jobs as video game developers and continue production on" its Ancient Egyptian adventure In the Valley of the Gods . The announcement was made over the weekend in a blog post on Campo Santo's website , in which the developer explained its reasoning for agreeing to the acquisition. "First", it said, "we really like making video games. Furthermore, and perhaps more accurately, we really like making and producing entertainment." According to the developer, everything it does, "is geared towards surprising, delighting, and entertaining the customers who have shared in our success". Read more…
- Navigating ancient tombs and a strained friendship In the Valley of Gods - 9 April 2018
This article was originally published in PC Gamer issue 316 . For more quality articles about all things PC gaming, you can subscribe now in the UK and the US . Campo Santo—the studio behind the contemplative forest experience Firewatch—is swapping tinder-dry trees and Wyoming fire lookout towers for ancient Egyptian tombs and early cinematography in its next game, In the Valley of Gods. Its announcement trailer offered a glimpse of a first-person adventure set deep in the Egyptian desert of the ’20s. You and a partner scramble through stunning ruined spaces before setting up a shot for your beautifully animated film camera.  The duo, as studio cofounders Sean Vanaman and Jake Rodkin tell me, are Rashida and Zora—filmmakers whose careers have hit the skids. The women are using their last chance at resources to try to make a hit documentary.  But a d…
- See the trailer for Campo Santo's In The Valley of Gods, coming in 2019 - 8 December 2017
At The Game Awards, we got a look at the announcement trailer for Campo Santo's next game, called In The Valley of Gods. Due in 2019, the game is unrelated to Firewatch, though "if you enjoy well-told and well-acted dynamic video game stories, or you just really liked Firewatch, this game is for you." "In the Valley of Gods is a single-player first person video game set in Egypt in the 1920s," reads the official site's FAQ . You play as an explorer and filmmaker who, along with your old partner, has traveled to the middle of the desert in the hopes of making a seemingly-impossible discovery and an incredible film." Check out the trailer above, and there's a Steam page for it as well.
