Firewatch Developer Campo Santo is Set to Join Valve

Campo Santo Set To Join Valve

Firewatch was for many, one of the best gaming experiences of 2016. A more sedate story-led game, it quickly found itself receiving the praise of both fans and critics. It all spelled good news for the developer, Campo Santo and as such the future of the company was very much a matter of hot discussion.

Amongst those, it seems that Gabe Newell must have been a fan of the game and the studio. As such, in a report via Polygon, Valve has just announced the acquisition of the studio.

Acquisition completed!

In a blog post, developer Campo Santo has said: “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.”

This will, of course, have some concerned about the future of the company. Valve has, however, assured the market that Campo Santo will still be run fairly autonomously and allowed to make the games they want to make. Within reason of course. There is also a quite significant logic behind the purchase.

Launch platform

When Firewatch launched, it launched via several websites. GoG, Valve, and others were given the rights to sell the game. This deal, however, will likely see any future deals be a Valve or more accurately Steam exclusive. This does mean, however, that Campo Santo will not need to have any concerns about Steams cut in sales and will be allowed to concentrate on the business of making games.

There are of course risks in selling to a larger company. I somehow think though that Valve does have good intentions here. It might even, dare I say, open the door for Valve to start making games again.

What do you think about this? Is this a good deal for Campo Santo? Does Valve get the better deal? Is Half-Life 3 confirmed? – Let us know in the comments!