Activision Blizzard has moved its Vicarious Visions studio from the Activision side of the business to the Blizzard side.
The editor explained this today GamesIndustry.biz which is effective today, merges Vicarious Visions with Blizzard Entertainment.
In the future, the Vicarious Visions team, made up of about 200 people, will be a Blizzard worker and will be “completely dedicated to existing Blizzard games and initiatives,” meaning that Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 studio will leave to Create Games as a Lead Developer
“After collaborating with Vicarious Visions for some time and developing a great relationship, Blizzard realized that there was an opportunity for [Vicarious Visions] to provide long-term assistance, “a representative told us. They declined to specify where the team has been working with Blizzard or for how long.
As part of the move, Vicarious Visions studio head Jen Oneal has been promoted to executive vice president of development at Blizzard, where she joins the company’s management team and reports directly to the Blizzard president , J. Allen Brack.
Oneal is being replaced in the lead role of the Vicarious Visions studio by Simon Ebejer, who previously served as the studio’s chief operating officer.
Vicarious Visions was acquired by Activision in 2005 and has worked on many of the publisher’s largest franchises over the years, including Guitar Hero, Spider-Man, Tony Hawk, Crash Bandicoot, Destiny, Skylanders and Call of Duty.
The studio will remain in Albany, New York.