Valve Buys Indie Studio Behind Hit Game Firewatch

Campo Santo, the independent studio behind the award-winning adventure game Firewatch, isn't quite so indie now. The developer has been acquired by Valve, it's been announced. Fans of Campo Santo looking forward to their next game, In the Valley of Gods, don't need to worry, as the developer will continue working on the title as a team under Valve, and won't be moved to other projects.

A blog post from Campo Santo detailed the news, revealing that the studio felt it was an "obvious match" to work with Valve, as the two developers share the same values when it comes to their work. The exact terms of the acquisition weren't shared, but the Campo Santo team will be relocating to Bellevue, Washington in the near future.

"We had a series of long conversations with the people at Valve and everyone shared the satisfaction we take in working with people whose talents dwarf our own to make things we never thought possible. Both sides spoke about our values and how, when you get right down to it, we, as human beings, are hard-limited by the time we have left when it comes to making the things we care about and believe in. They asked us if we'd all be interested in coming up to Bellevue and doing that there and we said yes."

Nothing new about In the Valley of Gods, which has players exploring the Egyptian desert, was revealed beyond that it will be released as a Valve game. The game is currently scheduled for release sometime next year. Campo Santo also noted that they will continue developing games for all platforms while under Valve, and not make the move to PC exclusives.

Valve hasn't been involved in game development and publishing for a number of years now, instead focusing on its Steam digital store business. Recently, however, CEO Gabe Newell stated that the company would return to making games again, with the digital card game Artifact already in the works. It's likely the Campo Santo acquisition plays a part in that plan.

SOURCE Campo Santo