Vicarious Visions, the studio responsible for Tony Hawk’s recent Pro Skater 1 + 2 and former Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, is being swallowed up by Blizzard Entertainment. The studio previously belonged to Activision Blizzard but, according to the publisher, the 200-person team will now become Blizzard employees and will be “fully dedicated to existing Blizzard games and initiatives”.
According to GamesIndustry.biz, this means that the studio will no longer be leading games as a leading developer. Jen Oneal, head of Vicarious Visions, has been promoted to executive vice president of development at Blizzard, while her previous role is being taken over by the studio’s chief operating officer, Simon Ebejer.
Activision Blizzard says that “After collaborating with Vicarious Visions for some time and developing a great relationship, Blizzard realized that there was an opportunity to [Vicarious Visions] to provide long-term support. ”
ActiBlizz did not say on which of Blizzard’s projects they will put all of these hands to work. Hearthstone cards? Overwatch shorts? Diablo 4 stirring? Maybe we’ll find out eventually.
Vicarious Visions launched its Tony Hawk’s’ em last fall and it seemed to have been very well received. It was one of RPS’s favorite games in 2020. It seems a little shameful for Blizz to swallow up a studio whose work people apparently liked.