As Campo Santo approached the conclusion of Firewatch’s development, Chris Remo was eager to begin anew. “I recall thinking, ‘Wow, if we were to recreate this very game now, we could expand these concepts significantly.'”
Following the release of Firewatch, Remo started delivering presentations about the vision Campo Santo had: creating a game that emphasized reactivity instead of interactivity. “I was optimistic that this approach would gain traction and be executed in a more ambitious manner than we accomplished,” Remo states. “Part of me was wishing that Firewatch would lead to the formation of its own subgenre.”
However, the concepts fundamental to Firewatch did not inspire imitators. A decade after Firewatch’s launch, Remo discusses his perspective on why reactive narrative games did not proliferate.