Developer Campos Santo's In the Valley of Gods has been put on hold as the studio helps out on other Valve titles.
Last month, those anticipating In the Valley of Gods became nervous when the game was dropped from the Twitter bios of the game's three lead developers. While it seemed bleak, those waiting for the game can be somewhat calmed. According to Polygon, Campo Santo co-founder Jake Rodkin revealed In the Valley of Gods has not been outright cancelled. However, the game has been put on hold as members of Campos Santo have been delegated to work on other projects in development in Valve. Rodkin released a statement to Polygon explaining the situation:
"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. But yes, developers from the former Campos Santo team have joined other projects at Valve, including Half-Life: Alyx. As you can imagine, our experience in the first-person adventure genre is pretty relevant. 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 in Valve it became clear there was a lot of valuable work to be done on Half-Life: Alyx. Some of us started lending a hand, and have since become full-time on the project as it approaches launch. Similarly, some ex-Campos are working on Dota Underlords, some are on Steam, and so on. So to answer your question as of today, 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."
Campos Santo's first title, Firewatch, released in 2016. The game released to critical acclaim. In 2017, the developer announced In the Valley of Gods, a first-person adventure set in Egypt. The next year, Valve snatched up the studio. While it is good to hear that the game has not been outright cancelled, it is unclear just how long we will have to wait for the title. The game still has a Steam page, where the game's release date has been changed from 2019 to "TBA."
