Vicarious Visions has been responsible for developing some of Activisions biggest commercial successes in recent years with Crash Bandicoot N.Sane Trilogy and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2, both of which were highly praised collections of ground-up remakes of classic titles. However, it seems their days of leading development on original projects are over.
Activision recently informed GamesIndustry that Vicarious Visions is now being merged with Blizzard Entertainment. Going forward, the studio will function in a support capacity for the Blizzard side of Activision-Blizzard. As per the company, the New York-based studio is going to be “fully dedicated to existing Blizzard games and initiatives” from now on.
“After collaborating with Vicarious Visions for some time and developing a great relationship, Blizzard realized there was an opportunity for [Vicarious Visions] to provide long-term support,” said a company representative.
Vicarious Visions studio head Jen Oneal will now serve in the role of executive vice president of development at Blizzard, reporting directly to J. Allen Brack, the president of Blizzard. Meanwhile, Oneal will be replaces as studio head by Simon Ebejer, formerly the chief operating officer of the studio.