Firewatch launched five years ago as of yesterday on February 9, and developer Campo Santo has celebrated with some new art and a hidden secret.
Below, you can see the beginnings of the Twitter thread from Campo Santo, developer of Firewatch, thanking everyone yesterday on February 9 for playing the original game five years ago. In the following tweet, you can see a few never-before-seen concept art sketches from Campo Santo developers prior to the game's completion, which give a stunning look at the development process behind the indie hit.
Firewatch shipped five years ago today, which feels like an eternity ago and like yesterday. Thanks to everyone who helped us create it, and to all of you who played it. pic.twitter.com/jvAXpkmjFjFebruary 10, 2021
Then the developer revealed another secret of an entirely different nature. In the Nintendo Switch version of Firewatch, you can apparently find a cartridge within the game that allows you can play the very strange arcade mode depicted in the tweet from the developer just below. From the look of the replies though, it seems like hardly anyone knew about the cartridge or the arcade mode.
An even more rarely seen piece of Firewatch: How closely have you dug into the Nintendo Switch version of the game? Have you truly completed everything on that cart? pic.twitter.com/CmQGpswzXYFebruary 10, 2021
It's been five years since Campo Santo's last release, and we're still holding out hope for In the Valley of the Gods. If you're unfamiliar with the game, it was originally unveiled by Campo Santo after Firewatch launched in 2016, but was put on hold when the developer was acquired by Valve in 2018.
A year later in 2019, Campo Santo founder Jake Rodkin revealed that In the Valley of the Gods had been put on hold indefinitely, due to core development staff being moved to other Valve projects like Half-Life: Alyx, Dota Underlords, and more. It's unfortunately looking increasingly unlikely that we'll ever see Campo Santo's follow-up to the beloved Firewatch.
If you, like us, adored your time with Campo Santo's adventure game, head over to our list of games like Firewatch that'll take you on a journey like no other.
