In the Valley of Gods Is "On Hold" While Campo Santo Devs Work on Other Valve Projects

In the Valley of Gods Is "On Hold" While Campo Santo Devs Work on Other Valve Projects

Campo Santo's follow-up to Firewatch isn't currently being worked on.

News by Mathew Olson, Reporter

Last year when Valve bought Campo Santo, the developers behind Firewatch, the team said it would continue working on its next game, In the Valley of Gods. Now, one of Campo Santo's founders has confirmed that In the Valley of Gods is on hold as its team members busy themselves on other Valve projects.

First revealed in 2017, In the Valley of Gods was set to build on the first-person storytelling techniques Campo Santo explored in Firewatch. In a statement to Polygon, Campo Santo co-founder Jake Rodkin confirms development on the follow-up is now paused:

In the Valley of Gods development is on hold—but it certainly feels like a project people can and may return to. And when that happens, we'll find an exciting way to let fans know.

In the Valley of Gods is still listed as an upcoming title on Valve's official "About" page, though it appears it has not been updated to list Half-Life: Alyx, Valve's VR exclusive return to the series. We have reached out to Valve for further clarification on the status of In the Valley of Gods, but have not heard back by the time of publication.

A day before last month's announcement of Half-Life: Alyx, a few Campo Santo members—including Rodkin—removed In the Valley of the Gods from their bios on Twitter. Rodkin confirms that some of the Campo Santo team have moved over to development on Half-Life: Alyx since joining Valve:

You hear a lot about how at Valve you can work on what you want. It turns out that's true, and there's a lot of work available. As we integrated ourselves into Valve it became clear there was a lot of valuable work to be done on Half-Life: Alyx. Some of us starting lending a hand, and have since become full-time on the project as it approaches launch.

Rodkin also says that other "ex-Campos" are currently at work on Dota Underlords, Steam, "and so on."

In 2017, Valve announced it was developing "three full games" for VR. With Half-Life: Alyx now targeted for a March 2020 release and In the Valley of Gods on hold, it's unclear how many unannounced projects are currently in active development at Valve.

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Dota Underlords

Half-Life: Alyx

Mathew Olson

Reporter

Mathew Olson is a writer formerly of Digg, where he blogged and reported about all things under the umbrella of internet culture (including games, of course). He lives in New York, grew up under rain clouds and the influence of numerous games studios in the Pacific Northwest, and will talk your ear off about Half-Life mods, Talking Heads or Twin Peaks if you let him.

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