Photographer: Troy Harvey / Bloomberg
Photographer: Troy Harvey / Bloomberg
Video game publisher Activision Blizzard Inc. has taken another step to consolidate control over the Blizzard Entertainment division, which previously prided itself on its autonomy, by transferring a 200-person design studio to its ranks.
The studio, Vicarious Visions, has been a subsidiary of Activision since 2005 and has worked in franchises like Skylanders, Crash Bandicoot and Tony Hawk. Now he will focus entirely on Blizzard franchises, including Diablo, instead of making his own games. Former head of Vicarious Visions Jennifer Oneal will take a seat on the Blizzard leadership team, reporting directly to the president.
The news, reported by GamesIndustry.biz, arrived just a few weeks after Blizzard quietly dismantled one of its internal development teams, according to people familiar with the company.
Blizzard, creator of games like World of Warcraft and Overwatch, traditionally develops many of its games internally. But in recent years, Activision’s editorial arm has taken over a stronger hand in Blizzard’s operations. Albany, New York-based Vicarious Visions has been working with Blizzard since last year on the Diablo franchise, including a planned remake of Diablo II, people familiar with the plans said. They asked not to be identified by discussing private information.
A Blizzard spokesman declined to comment on Vicarious Visions’ current projects, only confirming that the studio “has been working with Blizzard for some time”.
Until last year, the remake of Diablo II was set to be developed by Blizzard Team 1, part of the company’s campus in Irvine, California, which has been known for reworking classic games. Its most recent release, in January 2020, was a remake called Warcraft III: Reforged. The title was poorly received due to flaws and missing features, earning 59 out of 100 points on the Metacritic analytics aggregator – the lowest score a Blizzard game has ever achieved.
Team 1 members got together to discuss what was wrong. Blizzard’s internal documents reviewed by Bloomberg identified the game’s flaws in inadequate planning, lack of communication and a hasty launch due to financial pressure from management, among other factors. For example, Blizzard announced the game in November 2018 and started pre-ordering for 2019 without informing the majority of the development team in advance, according to several people who worked on Warcraft III: Reforged.
Team 1 wanted to avoid repeating the mistakes of Warcraft III: Reforged in their next project, the remake of Diablo II. Shortly after the autopsy, however, Blizzard withdrew the project from the team and placed the division behind Diablo IV in charge. A group from Vicarious Visions is also working on the remake, which became known as Diablo II: Resurrected.
On October 15, 2020, Blizzard informed Team 1 members that it was reorganizing the entire division, according to the people who worked on Warcraft III: Reforged. In the following weeks, team members had the opportunity to interview for jobs elsewhere at Blizzard. Those who did not find positions in the company were gradually dismissed. Others went to independent studios recently started by veterans of high-profile companies, such as Frost Giant Inc. and DreamHaven Inc., founded by Blizzard co-founder and former CEO Mike Morhaime, whose departure largely signaled the start of the acquisition of Activision.
Team 1 was also responsible for the Heroes of the Storm and StarCraft II games. Blizzard slowed support for the development of Heroes of the Storm in 2018. On the same day that Blizzard said it was reorganizing the division, it publicly announced that StarCraft II was ending all development in progress.
Blizzard has promised to continue to patch and update Warcraft III: Reforged, although it will likely do so with a different third-party team. A spokesman did not confirm who is dealing with the continued development of Warcraft III: Reforged, but said “we are still committed to updates in support of the community”.