As GamesIndustry.biz reports, Activision Blizzard has merged Vicarious Visions with its Blizzard side of things to have the studio's 200-ish team "fully dedicated to existing Blizzard games and initiatives". Vicarious Visions' recent works include developing Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy and the remake for Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2.

Following this merger news, Bloomberg reported that, according to "people familiar with the plans" who asked not to be identified, Vicarious Visions "has been working with Blizzard since last year on the Diablo franchise, including a planned remake of Diablo II". When asked for a comment by Bloomberg, a Blizzard spokesperson only confirmed that Vicarious Visions “has been working with Blizzard for some time.”

SOURCE 1, SOURCE 2

 

[the_randomizer]

Blizzard and Tencent can both fuck off, we don't need more IPs being ruined, and they will be.

 

[chrisrlink]

why fucking join commievision who supports no human rights and bans players who say "Liberate china" trust me if i was head of activision III'd litterally stop ask kissing Xi, and even throw in a fuck you then pull my games from China another reason i do piracy because i don't support any companies that suports and enables china's behavour

 

[Noctosphere]

There's a guy who told me that apparently, Vicarious has also as job to put WC3 Reforged back on its feet
Reforged was such shit that they fired the whole team behind it and then put Vicarious in charge of it as well

 

[AkikoKumagara]

So much for more great Tony Hawk remakes. This blows.

 

[Daggot]

The final nail on Diablo's coffin.

Vicarious Visions is actually really good! It's just a waste of their talents to restrict them to blizzard only IMO, they're infamously bad at managing the teams they absorb.

 

[eyeliner]

For ya'll, VV will probably be scrambled into Blizzard, with Blizzard swallowing VV's IP's, if any, and milk them the best as they can.

See you, Vicarious Visions. We had a good relationship for a while.

 

[jumpman17]

Another great team eaten by the big guys. When Activision bought them, they got relegated to working on Guitar Hero stuff, then they got moved to working on Skylanders stuff, then Activision finally gives them a chance and they deliver the amazing Crash Bandicoot 1-3 remake followed by the amazing Tony Hawk 1+2 remake. Both revitalized dead franchises and Tony Hawk was even the fasting selling game in the series ever. Great job! Banished to the basement to never be heard from again!

 

[Chrisssj2]

Aint buying shit of this shit company after the desctruction of W3

 

[Hells Malice]

Well that's pretty fantastic news for the Diablo 2 remake. I didn't know the company by name tbh but the Crash and Tony Hawk remakes are fantastic. Can't wait for a proper Diablo 2 remake.

Aw no no no...noooooo...lookit what ActiBlizz did to Bungie and Destiny...WHYYYYYYYYYY

I know this site is full of people who know literally nothing, but what the fuck are you even talking about?

Bungie signed a pretty loose publishing deal with Acti Blizzard in like 2010. The entire lifespan of both Destiny 1 and 2 was under it and all it ended up doing was putting Destiny 2 on the battle.net launcher. ooOooOOooO industry shattering development.

Aside from the Diablo series, Blizzard's IPs have remained pretty rock solid in terms of quality. Any real crying about them is the result of reddit politics and they're about as intelligent as this site's politics section.

 

[the_randomizer]

Well that's pretty fantastic news for the Diablo 2 remake. I didn't know the company by name tbh but the Crash and Tony Hawk remakes are fantastic. Can't wait for a proper Diablo 2 remake.



I know this site is full of people who know literally nothing, but what the fuck are you even talking about?

Bungie signed a pretty loose publishing deal with Acti Blizzard in like 2010. The entire lifespan of both Destiny 1 and 2 was under it and all it ended up doing was putting Destiny 2 on the battle.net launcher. ooOooOOooO industry shattering development.

Aside from the Diablo series, Blizzard's IPs have remained pretty rock solid in terms of quality. Any real crying about them is the result of reddit politics and they're about as intelligent as this site's politics section.

Someone wasn't there when Warcraft Reforged was released Sorry, but Blizzard and its CEO are both shitbrained.

 

[Lv44ES_Burner]

Well, it was nice knowing Crash Bandicoot's return while it lasted. Thanks, V.V., for ya'lls work on N.Sane Trilogy, that was some good shit. Hopefully Toys for Bob can get their shit together for something past Crash 4.

And by that I mean STOP WITH THE FUCKING PADDED GAMEPLAY YOU FUCKS. I do not need that fresh hell in Crash 4 on the Switch if* it ever happens.

(* - I know what I said. Shut up.)

 

[XDel]

It needs a Graphical Upgrade, maybe a little tweaking on the interface, but that's all. The tone better remain the same as well as the dialog. No cartoony crap.

 

[Noctosphere]

Someone wasn't there when Warcraft Reforged was released Sorry, but Blizzard and its CEO are both shitbrained.

I was, it was REALLY shit, like total shit, like shitty shit...
seriously, full full full of bugs²
To give you an example i remember, the game was unable to load the second mission of the campaign
When that bug was fixed with an update, I was like "YOUHOU"
But I was wrong, it was unable to load the third mission...

 

[the_randomizer]

I was, it was REALLY shit, like total shit, like shitty shit...
seriously, full full full of bugs²
To give you an example i remember, the game was unable to load the second mission of the campaign
When that bug was fixed with an update, I was like "YOUHOU"
But I was wrong, it was unable to load the third mission...

Should've been called Warcraft Refunded

 

[Noctosphere]

Should've been called Warcraft Refunded

 

[the_randomizer]

Theeeeeeere we go

 

[Xzi]

No!!
So much for a Crash Nitro Cart remake!

So much for more great Tony Hawk remakes. This blows.

Guys, Crash Bandicoot and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater are both owned by Activision. More remasters for these IPs are not out of the question. Whether or not the quality of their remasters slowly diminish over time, that's a different matter.

 

[AkikoKumagara]

Guys, Crash Bandicoot and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater are both owned by Activision. More remasters for these IPs are not out of the question. Whether or not the quality of their remasters slowly diminish over time, that's a different matter.

I know they own the IP, but VV being dissolved into Blizzard means they likely won't be involved and some other studio, likely one with no experience w/ the franchise, since there are few to none left, will be taking the lead of the next one, if one happens.
This is bad news, this is also why I said the word 'great', I never implied more wouldn't come. We'll just likely be back to the "Robomodo" kind of Tony Hawk games. VV did something with both of those franchises that no one since the original developers were able to do, I don't think that's really disputable.

 

[Xzi]

I know they own the IP, but VV being dissolved into Blizzard means they likely won't be involved and some other studio, likely one with no experience w/ the franchise, since there are few to none left, will be taking the lead of the next one, if one happens.
This is bad news, this is also why I said the word 'great', I never implied more wouldn't come. We'll just likely be back to the "Robomodo" kind of Tony Hawk games. VV did something with both of those franchises that no one since the original developers were able to do, I don't think that's really disputable.

Activision and Blizzard have been one single entity for a long time now. Which means Vicarious Visions is now also a part of that single entity. I don't see any reason Activision would turn to a third-party developer for future remasters, given that VV's previous releases were undoubtedly a big part of what made the option of a buyout so appealing to ActiBlizz. Why send an e-mail or make a phone call when you can just walk down the hallway instead.

 

[AkikoKumagara]

Activision and Blizzard have been one single entity for a long time now. Which means Vicarious Visions is now also a part of that single entity. I don't see any reason Activision would turn to a third-party developer for future remasters, given that VV's previous releases were undoubtedly a big part of what made the option of a buyout so appealing to ActiBlizz.

The news implies VV no longer exists and its developers will be working exclusively on "Blizzard" titles going forward. I don't think it's a stretch to assume that means they're not going to work on titles that have historically not been associated with the Blizzard brand in the past.