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Vicarious Visions Merges with Blizzard, Won’t Lead Tony Hawk Development Anymore

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Tony Hawk Pro Skater 1 + 2, Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, Vicarious Visions, Activision, Blizzard Entertainment, merge

Activision Blizzard’s Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 and 2 developer, Vicarious Visions, has been merged into Blizzard Entertainment. Blizzard is the developer of major franchises like Overwatch and World of Warcraft. GamesIndustry.biz reports the studio of around 200 employees will now work as Blizzard employees and will be “fully dedicated to existing Blizzard games and initiatives.” Vicarious Visions studio head Jen Oneal will now serve as Blizzard’s executive vice president of development. Activision Blizzard’s decision to merge the companies means the acclaimed studio will no longer create games as the lead developer.

“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,” a representative said.

No comment was provided on how long the Vicarious Visions team has been working under the Blizzard umbrella or what it is working on. However, Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier has stated that the developer “has actually been working on Blizzard projects for a few months now.”

Vicarious Visions was established in the 1990s and has developed a vast multiple of games. The developer was acquired by Activision almost exactly 16 years ago and worked on Guitar Hero, Skylanders, and Destiny before finally settling in as the lead studio on Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 and 2.

About the author

Michael Cripe
Michael joined The Escapist team back in 2019 as a news reporter but has been covering games, movies, TV, and music since 2015. Most of his time is spent on the news team, but you’ll definitely see his name pop up in the opinion and interview sections from time to time. From the most obscure indie games to the industry’s AAA juggernauts, there’s nothing Michael isn’t interested in digging into. The vast majority of Michael’s work can be found at The Escapist, but his bachelor’s degree in Multimedia Journalism has led him to other sites like OnlySP, Gameranx, and Kansas City’s The Pitch. When he’s not writing, Michael is probably playing Super Mario Sunshine, Dead Space, or The Binding of Isaac. If you’d like to connect and talk about the latest in pop-culture, you can follow Michael on Twitter (@MikeCripe), Instagram (mike_cripe), or LinkedIn if that’s your thing, I guess.