It was this past September that developer Vicarious Visions carried out the nostalgia grab that is Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2. The game issues the two classic PlayStation titles with a complete revamp in the engine offering 4K visuals and photorealistic texture work. Additionally, the title was also met with included tricks and other features to better adapted to returning seasoned players.
In the response to the game’s launch this past fall, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 instantly became the fastest sold entry in franchise history. In ten days of the title’s release, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 already surpassed 1 million units sold. So it is expected that Vicarious Visions, the team that also handled Crash Bandicoot N’ Sane Trilogy, would continue to prosper with other franchise redefining releases.
Well, Activision Blizzard has something else in mind for the developer. In a new report from gamesindustry.biz, Vicarious Visions is being merged into Blizzard Entertainment – all operations will be absorbed into the World of Warcraft & Overwatch studio.
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.
Additionally in the report, Blizzard issues that the 200 developer team will now be “fully dedicated to existing Blizzard games and initiatives.” In other words, other projects that Vicarious Visions planned are to be helmed by another team as the Albany-based studio now focuses on ambitions curated by Blizzard Entertainment. Studio lead Jen Oneal also receives a promotion to Blizzard Executive Vice President of Development.
In other change of staff at Blizzard Entertainment, it was back in February 2020 that then-The Coalition head Rod Fergusson announced his departure from the Xbox Game Studios team to join a leading role for Diablo IV. However, it is uncertain what Vicarious Visions is to work on at Blizzard Entertainment as of reporting. You can read the initial report by heading here.
Do you support the merge of Vicarious Visions to Blizzard Entertainment?
Source: gamesindustry.biz
