Valve concept art surfaces for canned space pirate game

Stars of Blood, a long-lost space pirate game once in the works at Valve, has been glimpsed in newly-surfaced concept art.

The game's existance was acknowledged by Valve boss Gabe Newell during an interview in 2012, although the project had already been canned by that point.

"We're not doing it any more," Newell said at the time. "We had an internal project called Stars of Blood, which was a space pirate game, and that never saw the light of day."

The concept art, below, was uncovered over the weekend by Obscure Game Aesthetics, apparently lying undiscovered on Valvearchive.

Images show a mix of Star Wars-esque landscapes with a twist - such as the towering medieval-like space castle on a Tatooine-like desert planet, or a gritty futuristic skyline covered in the smog from two giant cooling towers.

As well as the art, there's this - a tech demo video from 2012 which includes an odd test level.

"This is pure speculation but in 2012 the developer Gray Horsfield who left Valve published a tech demo video," OGA wrote. "There is an unseen environment that doesn't really look like Half-Life to me. I wonder if this was not a test level for Stars of Blood?"

Valve's portfolio includes a list of unreleased games, which sadly now looks like it will also include Campo Santo's In the Valley of the Gods. The 1920s Egypt-set adventure was placed on indefinite hiatus after the team joined Valve and began working on other projects.