So I didn't really know anything about him other than that the team was psyched about him. “We live like a mile apart from each other in Los Angeles. Meanwhile, Half-Life 2 may be remembered now for its physics engine, but at the time of release just as much focus was on the painstaking way that Valve built characters, in particular Alyx Vance.“Rich and I had never met,” Jones says. The first Half-Life may seem dated now, but for the time it felt free-flowing, with a very different and more natural feel than most games around. Valve didn't just make its name by changing the business model of video games, but by changing the way game stories were told. This may be what Valve is looking for, and what Campo Santo could provide under Valve's ownership going forward.Īfter all, one of the biggest criticisms Valve has seen in recent years is that what made the developer great has been missing. The studio does fit the same mould as Turtle Rock, with a core team of established and talented developers, but there's also a style and emphasis that Campo Santo holds in quite a unique way: the ability to tell fascinating stories with genuine characters and dialogue. With that in mind, it's clear that Campo Santo has something that has piqued Valve's interest. In short, Valve seems to value the potential to create something big. In the end, it resulted in the dynamic AI director model of Left 4 Dead and one of the most fun multiplayer shooter series around. However, it was clear that Valve saw a skill that Turtle Rock had - in this case strong AI builds and engaging multiplayer gameplay - and saw a way to best utilize that. Turtle Rock was officially acquired by Valve prior to the release of the first Left 4 Dead, before the studio parted ways from the Steam-creating giant. With a particular skill for AI, the studio - founded by former Westwood Studios members - was contracted multiple times for Counter-Strike work, before moving onto Left 4 Dead, the cooperative horror shooter that is now one of Valve's best-known properties. The last major purchase from Valve was Turtle Rock, a studio that caught Valve's attention and was brought into the Counter-Strike development fold. When Valve has previously acquired another studio, it's generally down to a particular strength that the developer has shown. Those games that did see major input from the developer in recent years have been the likes of MOBA game DotA 2, shooter series Counter-Strike, and the continued support of Team Fortress 2, while fans of games such as Half-Life have been left with little to work with other than Episode 3 plot reveals. The company has lain dormant when it comes to new game development for some time, instead prioritizing the growth of Steam as a platform. ![]() ![]() It certainly feels like something of a different move for Valve. Related: Firewatch Grapples With the Challenge of Video Game Storytelling Meanwhile, support for Firewatch is set to continue, and the team will maintain their positions as game developers. The developer will be swapping San Francisco for Valve's headquarters in Bellevue, Washington, where they will continue to work on current project In the Valley of Gods, which is set to release next year and will now be published by Valve. Nonetheless, Campo Santo now sits under Valve's wing.
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