Independent studio Campo Santo (Firewatch) has been acquired by a most unlikely suitor - Valve, a digital store operator that once made video games. Three people familiar with the news confirmed the purchase to Kotaku today.

Jack Kelley knew he wanted to play Firewatch since seeing the first pieces of artwork. After the game released in 2016, Kelley became fascinated by the real world lookout towers that inspired the game, culminating in the 14-year-old fan saving a historic lookout tower from demolition.

Campo Santo, the minds behind Firewatch, are working on a first-person game that appears to take place in Egypt, based on a trailer that premiered tonight during The Game Awards. Called In The Valley of the Gods, the game is slated to drop in 2019.

Every week, there's a new headline about jerks who inundate Steam pages with angry reviews. Sometimes, the protests aren't even about the game at all, but rather a larger controversy involving a developer or publisher. How did this become the now normal?

Copyright, free speech, and entertainment lawyers have mixed opinions on the legality of game developer Campo Santo's decision to fight hate speech with a copyright strike after reaching a breaking point with YouTube celebrity Felix "Pewdiepie" Kjellberg.

The fallout from the latest drama involving Felix "Pewdiepie" Kjellberg and Campo Santo continues, with a fairly logical target finding itself in the firing line: Firewatch.

Game developer Sean Vanaman announced on social media today that Campo Santo, the studio behind the indie game Firewatch, will be filing a takedown against Felix "Pewdiepie" Kjellberg on YouTube over footage featuring their latest game, as well any future releases. This came hours after widely circulated footage showed Kjellberg say the n-word while streaming an online shooter.

You know what they say -- your first 500,000 sales are easy, it's the next 500,000 that takes work! OK, no one has ever said that. Sure, diminishing returns are a thing, but I doubt Campo Santo is particularly upset that it's sold over one million copies of Firewatch, hitting the milestone "sometime late last year".

Campo Santo's acclaimed Firewatch may have had its day in the sun, but it looks like the developer has been tinkering on the title in preparation for the PS4 Pro. In addition to "enhanced detail" on Sony's console, the game now has a "free roam" mode available for all platforms.

Firewatch came out on Xbox One this week.

Correction: it came out in just about every other region besides Australia.

Why the delay? Apparently there's a small issue with classification.

I don't think anyone doubted that Campo Santo's Firewatch had done alright in the cash-making stakes, but until now, hard numbers weren't easy to come by. Publisher Panic however recently obliged, revealing the title had moved half a million copies in its first month.

PS4 players of Campo Santo's Firewatch who've been jealously eyeing off their PC counterparts, it's time to glare elsewhere. The developer has released a meaty update for the game on Sony's console.

Now that Firewatch has been out for a few days, players have had enough time for the game's Steam page to fill up with user-submitted screenshots. And hoo boy.

Maybe this is a spoiler? I don't think it is, but if you're concerned about that kind of thing with regards to Firewatch, then... be warned.

Firewatch is a very lonely video game that's all about people.

Over the last couple of weeks we've seen (and read) a bit on Campo Santo's debut title, Firewatch. The game looks beautifully minimalist, sufficiently mysterious and ever-so-slightly creepy, despite the bright, soft orange aesthetic. If you've been desperate for more -- and really, who isn't? -- well, time to make yourself comfortable for the better part of an hour...

Imagine being lonely. Not 'no dates for a year' kind of lonely. No, we're talking no physical human contact for days on end, with only a voice on the phone for company. Then, things start to get tense. Trust erodes. What would that do you? Firewatch aims to find out.