Firewatch developer Campo Santo has been acquired by Valve, the studio’s staffers will maintain their jobs and continue production on the current project called in the Valley of Gods.

Read the full announcement from Campo Santo below.

The twelve of us at Campo Santo have agreed to join Valve, where we will maintain our jobs as video game developers and continue production on our current project, In the Valley of Gods.

If you’re the type of person who gives two flips about this news, we can elaborate a little bit on this big decision. First, we really like making video games. Furthermore, and perhaps more accurately, we really like making and producing entertainment. From the day-to-day production of our last game, Firewatch, to the way we run the company, make merchandise, meet players at expos and shows, send out a quarterly literary journal, throw open-to-the-public game demos in the middle of an artificial forest—all of it is geared towards surprising, delighting, and entertaining the customers who have shared in our success.

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.

Second, while visiting IGN’s headquarters in early 2015 to talk about Firewatch, we came across an undelivered 2011 Game of the Year Award for Portal 2. It happened to be engraved on an unopened bottle of champagne. Never ones to pass up free alcohol, we stole it and drank it to celebrate the launch of Firewatch a year later. So in some sense, this is a return home for us. Well, for that bottle of champagne.

Third, and last, 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.

Yes, we’re still making In the Valley of Gods (as a Valve game!); yes, we’ll still support Firewatch; and yes, we’ll still produce The Quarterly Review and our regular blog content. Thanks so much for your interest in our games and we’ll see you in Washington. Cheers.

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I liked Firewatch a bit...but it’s no game worth a Valve badge.
Not sure what to think about it other than...congratulations!

"First, we really like making video games."

Well they'll hate it at Valve then cause everyone knows Valve has quit making video games.

These twelve people are not going to make Half-Life 3 (not without help).
They are going to be kept busy with this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceJcHUoO734

"Firewatch developer Campo Santo has been acquired by Valve"



Wait wat.

Valve actually had the balls to acquire someone.

Well, at least the devs will continue making games and not be rushed out the door like EA does to their devs, or their games being rushed to 1-2 years development like Activision.

Chazore said: "Firewatch developer Campo Santo has been acquired by Valve" Wait wat. Valve actually had the balls to acquire someone. Well, at least the devs will continue making games and not be rushed out the door like EA does to their devs, or their games being rushed to 1-2 years development like Activision.

What's the difference if they said they agreed to join? Like, were they really forced to do so, or was it a natural agreement ? 

Well it doesn't sound like Valve twisted their arm. But it also doesn't sound like they were outright bought for insane amounts of cash like EA did with Respawn either. 

Well aren't both those things a good thing? The way you said it sounded negative but both of those sound positive to me. 

The releases of their games on consoles are also still scheduled so I don't see much wrong so far.

Twisting my arm to force me to join you?, I can't think of it being good tbh. I mean, try applying it to anything and you'll see the results for yourself.

The sack of money can be good, but in turn you lose on what you own.

Take a look at Respawn. They had a hard time with Acti, they left them and wanted to be "independent", but they ended up going for EA's sack of cash and well now they aren't 100% independent. 

The release schedules were never really going to change. I can't think of a time when a PC publisher had bought a studio and made in dev games exclusive to the PC, though I have seem said games acquired from PC and then cancelled (like when Riot Games bought out the studio behind the PC exclusive Rising Thunder, which was then promptly cancelled).

Also, Valve has released it's games on consoles before, so they aren't exactly like the big 3, where they lock theirs up.