It wasn’t too long ago that Campo Santo took the gaming scene by storm with Firewatch, their beautiful story-based game. Since then, fans have been looking forward to their next big release.
That release was supposed to be In the Valley of Gods, another single-player first-person adventure game similar to Firewatch. This installment would be based in a remote, ancient valley deep in the Egyptian desert. Players would risk their lives to uncover treasure while pursuing a discovery that would bring them riches and fame. There would be mechanics focused on building a relationship with Zora, your companion throughout the game, as well as implementing mechanics that made use of an authentic 35mm film camera to document the story as it unfolded.
Fans of Campo Santo began to feel hesitant after a while went with no news, especially once Valve acquired the studio in 2018. Many took the announcement of Half-Life: Alyx to be the death knell of In the Valley of Gods, as much of the Campo Santo team was working on that game.
It's been a big week here at Valve. Beyond the Half-Life: Alyx announcement, our teams have shipped major updates to CS:GO and Steam, with more to come soon.
— Valve (@valvesoftware) November 23, 2019
Suspicions were confirmed today, as Campo Santo co-founder Jake Rodkin announced in an interview with Polygon that those holding hesitations were correct.
“To fans looking forward to In the Valley of Gods, it’s probably clear that the optimistic ‘2019’ at the end of the announcement trailer isn’t going to be accurate. In the end, Valve Time makes fools of us all,” the co-founder spoke in the announcement. “But yes, developers from the former Campo Santo team have joined other projects at Valve, including Half-Life: Alyx.”
There are a number of worrying factors here, but a few good hints as well. Speaking of the good first, Rodkin makes it seem that In the Valley of Gods is still very much on the table. While it will undoubtedly be delayed, Rodkin at least acknowledges said setbacks instead of marking the game as canceled or scrapped.
But in terms of the bad, where does this leave the Campo Santo team? Half-Life: Alyx is only one of the projects mentioned, but Rodkin makes it seem as if there are many others. Once work on one project is done, it’s highly unlikely that they’ll simply retrace their steps and pick up In the Valley of Gods right from where it was.
Rodkin finishes his statement with a somewhat-positive message on the game: “In the Valley of Gods development is on hold – but it certainly feels like a project people can and may return to.”
