Firewatch developer Campo Santo first announced In the Valley of Gods back in 2017. After Valve acquired the company in 2018, some worried about the future of In the Valley of Gods, though the initial announcement trailer stated it would release in 2019. When people noticed some Campo Santo developers remove the game from their Twitter bios, things seemed bleak for the first-person adventure game based in Egypt. When Valve announced Half-Life: Alyx, several Campo Santo developers were confirmed to also be working on the project, only further increasing people’s worry.
Finally, the mystery of In the Valley of Gods’ release has been addressed by Campo Santo co-founder Jake Rodkin. In a statement to Polygon, Rodkin assured that the game has not been canceled, but put “on hold,” as some Campo Santo developers are busy working “full-time” on Half-Life: Alyx and even more projects from Steam and Valve, such as Dota Underlords. He cites his company’s “experience in the first-person adventure genre” as “pretty relevant,” as Valve as “a lot of work available,” giving developers the flexibility to work on the projects they want.
Though he doesn’t give a release date or even development timeline for In the Valley of Gods, Rodkin remains optimistic that the game will come sometime in the future. “It certainly feels like a project people can and may return to,” he said. “And when that happens, we’ll find an exciting way to let fans know.”
Half-Life: Alyx, the VR prequel to Half-Life 2, is scheduled to release on Steam in March 2020. The announcement of Half-Life: Alyx surprised many, after fans had advocated for Half-Life 3 for over a decade. Though it’s a prequel to Half-Life 2, Valve has assured that it is a “full-size” game.
In the Valley of Gods remains listed on Steam, but now has “TBD” for its release date.