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Valve game put “on hold” to prioritise Half-Life: Alyx and Dota Underlords

Half-Life: Alyx's release date is coming soon, but it's forced another Valve game to be delayed

Half-Life: Alyx VR

Half-Life: Alyx was a surprise announcement from Valve just recently, with the VR game confirmed for a March release date. However, it seems other projects have had to make way for the new Half-Life, as the company has now confirmed previous rumours that In the Valley of Gods is on hold.

Campo Santo’s follow-up to Firewatch was announced in 2017 with a 2019 release window, but fans became worried in November when all mention of the game disappeared from developers’ Twitter bios. Campo Santo was acquired by Valve following In the Valley of Gods’ reveal, so many assumed, when the lack of mention was spotted, that the studio’s staff had been repositioned to work on other Valve projects. Now, it has been confirmed that is the case.

“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,” Campo Santo co-founder Jake Rodkin tells Polygon. “In the end, Valve Time makes fools of us all. But yes, developers from the former Campo Santo team have joined other projects at Valve, including Half-Life: Alyx.”

Rodkin continues: “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.”

Valve has also hinted it still wants to make Half-Life 3, even if it was a “terrifyingly daunting” prospect at one point. For now, though, we’ll have to wait for Half-Life: Alyx’s release date of March 2020 to get our Gordon Freeman fix.