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Mergers and acquisitions are getting more common these days. Not just on tech and business world but also on gaming. The latest story involves the gaming distribution platform Valve and the US Indie studio Campo Santo.
According to the gaming website Polygon, the Bellevue-based company announced that they have acquired the Indie studio Campo Santo, which is best known for its “Firewatch” video game. The company is currently beefing up its gaming portfolio.
As part of the deal, Campo Santo’s 12-person team will be joining Valve’s office in Washington.
The deal will not affect Campo Santo’s upcoming game In the Valley of Gods, a first-person adventure set in 1920s Egypt. Additionally, the US game developer will also continue support on its first game, the adventure title “Firewatch.” Campo Santo has detailed the conversation it has had with the Valve team in its blog post.
About Valve, the acquirer
Founded in 1996 and based in Bellevue, Washington, Valve Corporation (formerly Valve LLC) is a video game developer and digital distribution platform. Valve is best known for its software distribution platform Steam, and “Dota 2,” “Counter-Strike,” “Left 4 Dead,” and “Half-Life.” Valve’s launched its first product, the PC first-person shooter “Half-Life,” was introduced to the gaming world in 1998.
It was a huge success for the company.
In 2003, Valve announced a major salvo to the gaming world, introduced the distribution platform Steam. In 2015, it made another major announcement that it has entered the game hardware market with its very own Steam Machine, a line of prebuilt gaming computers running the company’s developed SteamOS operating system.
Valve is no longer stranger to tech deals and acquisitions. The company has already made a number of strategic acquisitions in the past years. These include the Turtle Rock Studios in 2008, and Star Filled Studios in 2012, a two-man gaming company.
About Campo Santo, the acquired studio
Founded in 2013 and based in San Francisco, California, Campo Santo is an American independent game developer.
The company was founded by Jake Rodkin, Nels Anderson, Olly Moss, and Sean Vanaman, the lead writer of the popular “The Walking Dead” game. Campo Santo developed the popular first-person mystery adventure game “Firewatch,” which was first released in February 2016.
The company is currently working on its upcoming adventure title, "In The Valley of Gods,” which set for release in 2019. The company has also confirmed in a blog post that its titles will not become PC exclusive under Valve and will still be made available for all gaming platforms.
