Blizzard Albany

Blizzard Albany

Formerly	Vicarious Visions, Inc. (1991–2022)
Company type	Private (1991–2005) Subsidiary (2005–2022) Division (2022–present)
Industry	Video games
Founded	1991; 33 years ago (1991)
Founders	Karthik Bala Guha Bala
Headquarters	Albany, New York , US
Key people	Simon Ebejer (studio head) Aaron Ondek (CTO)
Number of employees	200+ (2021)
Parent	Activision (2005–2021) Blizzard Entertainment (2021–present)
Website	vvisions.com at the Wayback Machine (archived March 20, 2022) (now redirects to blizzard.com)

Vicarious Visions, Inc. was an American video game developer and is a division of Blizzard Entertainment known as Blizzard Albany, based in Albany, New York. Founded in 1991, the studio was acquired by Activision in January 2005. In January 2021, Vicarious Visions became part of Activision's sister company Blizzard Entertainment and was merged into it in April 2022.

History

Final Vicarious Visions logo used from 2017 until its rebrand in 2022

The studio was founded by brothers Karthik and Guha Bala in 1991 while they were in high school.^[1] In the late 1990s, Vicarious Visions appointed Michael Marvin, an Albany-based investor and entrepreneur, and founder and former CEO of MapInfo Corporation; and Charles S. Jones, investor, who sat on the boards of various software and industrial companies including Geac and PSDI, to its board of directors. Under their leadership, a sale of the company was negotiated to Activision, earning the original investors over 20x their initial investment.^{[citation needed]} In January 2005, Vicarious Visions was acquired by publisher Activision. In June 2007, Activision closed the Vicarious Visions' office in Mountain View, California.^[2] On April 5, 2016, the Bala brothers announced that they had left the company.^[3] The brothers then founded Velan Studios in November 2016.^[4]

On January 22, 2021, Vicarious Visions was moved by Activision Blizzard from a subsidiary of Activision to a subsidiary of Blizzard Entertainment. Going forward, more than 200 employees of Vicarious Visions will be employees of Blizzard.^[5] Vicarious had been working with Blizzard for about two years prior to this announcement, and specifically on the planned remaster of Diablo II, Diablo II: Resurrected, and Blizzard felt the move would be best as to have Vicarious' group provide continued support not only on the remaster but also on other Diablo properties including Diablo IV.^[6][7] Vicarious Visions studio head Jen Oneal moved to Blizzard's management and was succeeded by Simon Ebejer, previously the studio's chief operating officer.^[8] On October 27, 2021, Blizzard informed Vicarious Visions employees that the studio would change its name.^[9] The studio was fully merged into Blizzard on April 12, 2022, and was renamed Blizzard Albany, otherwise retaining its offices.^[10][11]

Blizzard Albany's quality assurance team, about 20 members in size, announced a unionization drive in July 2022 as Game Workers Alliance Albany. It follows Raven Software, another Activision Blizzard subsidiary, whose QA team voted to unionize earlier in the year.^[12]

Game history

Terminus, an online multiplayer space trading and combat simulation game, won two Independent Games Festival Awards in 1999. They became known as a leading developer of handheld games breaking ground by the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series, developing Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS titles in the franchise's main series as well as one spin off. They developed the first three Crash Bandicoot GBA games. Vicarious Visions developed Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2: Enter Electro, Ultimate Spider-Man, Crash Nitro Kart, Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast, Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy, and Doom 3 for the Xbox. Vicarious Visions developed for the Guitar Hero series on the Nintendo DS and Wii platforms. For Guitar Hero: On Tour, Vicarious Visions created the "Guitar Grip" peripheral for the Nintendo DS, which emulates the guitar controller for the portable system.

It was revealed on June 10, 2011, that Vicarious Visions was working on the 3DS version of Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure, and would go on to have an important role in developing the Skylanders game series, creating the games Skylanders: Swap Force and Skylanders: SuperChargers.^[13] On December 8, 2016, Vicarious Visions announced that they were partnering with Bungie to work on the Destiny franchise.^[14]

Game engine

Vicarious Visions Alchemy is the company's game engine. It was released in 2002. It was originally called Intrinsic Alchemy and developed by Intrinsic Graphics before being renamed after Vicarious Visions acquired Intrinsic Graphics in 2003.^[15]

Games developed

Year	Game	Platform(s)	Notes
1996	Synnergist	Microsoft DOS (PC CD-ROM)
1997	Dark Angael	Microsoft Windows
1999	Zebco Fishing!	Game Boy Color
	Vigilante 8
2000	Polaris SnoCross	Game Boy Color, Nintendo 64, PlayStation, Microsoft Windows
	Terminus	Microsoft Windows, MacOS, Linux
	Spider-Man	Game Boy Color
	The Wild Thornberrys: Rambler
	Pro Darts
	Barbie: Magic Genie Adventure
	Jimmy White's Cue Ball
2001	Wanadoo SnowCross	Game Boy Color, Microsoft Windows
	Rescue Heroes: Fire Frenzy	Game Boy Color
	Blue's Clues: Blue's Alphabet Book
	SpongeBob SquarePants: Legend of the Lost Spatula
	Zoboomafoo: Playtime in Zobooland
	Monsters, Inc.
	Kelly Club: Clubhouse Fun
	Sea-Doo Hydrocross	PlayStation
	Spider-Man 2: Enter Electro
	Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2	Game Boy Advance
	Power Rangers: Time Force
	Spider-Man: Mysterio's Menace
2002	Crash Bandicoot: The Huge Adventure
	Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3
	Frogger Advance: The Great Quest
	SpongeBob SquarePants: Revenge of the Flying Dutchman
	The Powerpuff Girls: Him and Seek
	Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4	Game Boy Advance, PlayStation
	Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast	GameCube, Xbox
	Whiteout	Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, Xbox
2003	The Muppets: On With The Show!	Game Boy Advance, Microsoft Windows
	Crash Bandicoot 2: N-Tranced	Game Boy Advance
	Bruce Lee: Return of the Legend
	X2: Wolverine's Revenge
	Finding Nemo
	Jet Set Radio
	Disney's Extreme Skate Adventure
	Disney's The Lion King 1½
	Tony Hawk's Underground
	SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom
	Disney's Brother Bear
	Crash Nitro Kart	Game Boy Advance, GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox, N-Gage
	Spy Muppets: License to Croak	Game Boy Advance, Microsoft Windows
	Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy	Xbox
2004	Rivet	Mobile phone
	Spider-Man vs. Doc Ock
	Shrek 2	Game Boy Advance
	Crash Bandicoot Purple: Ripto's Rampage and Spyro Orange: The Cortex Conspiracy
	Shark Tale
	Tony Hawk's Underground 2
	That's So Raven
	Shrek 2: Beg For Mercy!
	Codename: Kids Next Door – Operation: S.O.D.A.
	Spider-Man 2	Nintendo DS, PlayStation Portable
2005	Doom 3	Xbox
	Madagascar: Operation Penguin	Game Boy Advance
	Batman Begins
	X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse	PlayStation Portable
	Madagascar	Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS
	Ultimate Spider-Man
	Tony Hawk's American Sk8land
2006	Over the Hedge
	Over the Hedge: Hammy Goes Nuts	Game Boy Advance
	Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam	Nintendo DS
	Marvel: Ultimate Alliance	PlayStation Portable, Wii
2007	Spider-Man 3	Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Wii
	Shrek the Third	Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS
	Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock	Wii
	Transformers: Decepticons	Nintendo DS
	Transformers: Autobots
	Tony Hawk's Proving Ground
	Bee Movie Game
2008	Kung Fu Panda
	Guitar Hero: On Tour
	007: Quantum of Solace
	Guitar Hero On Tour: Decades
	Guitar Hero: Aerosmith	Wii
	Guitar Hero World Tour
2009	Guitar Hero 5
	Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2	PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
	Band Hero	Nintendo DS, Wii
	Mixed Messages	DSiWare
	Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen - Decepticons	Nintendo DS
	Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen - Autobots
	Guitar Hero On Tour: Modern Hits
2010	Transformers War for Cybertron: Decepticons
	Transformers War for Cybertron: Autobots
	Guitar Hero	iOS
	Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock	Wii
2011	Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure	Nintendo 3DS
2012	Skylanders: Cloud Patrol	iOS, Android, Kindle Fire
	Skylanders: Lost Islands	iOS, Android
	Skylanders: Battlegrounds
	Skylanders: Giants	Wii U
2013	Skylanders: Swap Force	PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Wii U,[16] Xbox 360, Xbox One
2014	Skylanders: Trap Team	iOS, Android, Kindle Fire
2015	Skylanders: SuperChargers	PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Wii U, iOS
2016	Skylanders: Imaginators (Crash Edition)	PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch
2016	Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare	PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC
2017	Destiny 2[a]	Microsoft Windows
	Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy	PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC
2020	Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2	PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch
2020	Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War	PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S	Assisted Raven Software
2021	Call of Duty: Warzone		Assisted Raven Software
2021	Diablo II: Resurrected	PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC[17][18]	Co-developed with Blizzard Team 3
2023	Diablo IV
2024	Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred

Cancelled games

Year	Game	Platform(s)
2000	AMF Xtreme Bowling ^[citation needed]	Game Boy Color
	VR Sports Powerboat Racing
	Carnivale ^[citation needed]
2001	Sea-Doo Hydrocross	Game Boy Color, Dreamcast, Nintendo 64
2003	Shaun Palmer's Pro Snowboarder 2[19]	Game Boy Advance
	Static Shock[20]
2008	Call of Duty: Roman Wars [21]	Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

Notes

1. As a support team for Bungie

References

1. Frank, Allegra (April 5, 2016). "Vicarious Visions co-founders move on after 25 years". Polygon. Archived from the original on November 8, 2020. Retrieved May 26, 2021.
2. Handy, Alex (June 7, 2007). "Exclusive: Activision Closes Vicarious Visions' CA Office". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on February 1, 2021. Retrieved January 27, 2021.
3. Futter, Mike (April 5, 2016). "Vicarious Visions Co-Founder Brothers Depart After 25 Years". Game Informer. Archived from the original on April 8, 2016. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
4. "Bala brothers found Velan studios". Market for Computer & Video Games. November 21, 2016. Archived from the original on June 14, 2021. Retrieved June 4, 2021.
5. Sinclair, Brendan (January 22, 2021). "Vicarious Visions merged into Blizzard". GamesIndustry.biz. Archived from the original on January 22, 2021. Retrieved January 22, 2021.
6. Schreier, Jason (January 22, 2021). "Blizzard Absorbs Activision Studio After Dismantling Classic Games Team". Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on February 24, 2021. Retrieved January 22, 2021.
7. Minotti, Mike (February 22, 2021). "Blizzard leaders J. Allen Brack and Allen Adham on leaks, Reforged lessons, mobile, and more". Venture Beat. Archived from the original on February 22, 2021. Retrieved February 22, 2021.
8. Bankhurst, Adam (January 22, 2021). "Activision Merges Blizzard and Vicarious Visions". IGN. Archived from the original on May 20, 2021. Retrieved February 18, 2022.
9. "Vicarious Visions to drop its name and fully merge with Blizzard, sources say". Polygon. October 27, 2021. Archived from the original on October 30, 2021. Retrieved October 31, 2021.
10. Middler, Jordan (April 12, 2022). "Tony Hawk studio Vicarious Visions is no more as it completes merger with Blizzard". Video Games Chronicle. Retrieved April 12, 2022.
11. Kennedy, Victoria (April 12, 2022). "Skylanders dev Vicarious Visions is officially renamed Blizzard Albany". Eurogamer. Retrieved April 14, 2022.
12. "Blizzard QA workers in Albany are organizing Activision's second union". July 19, 2022.
13. "Report: Job Losses At Vicarious Visions". Nintendo World Report. June 10, 2011. Archived from the original on June 14, 2011. Retrieved June 14, 2011.
14. McWhertor, Michael (December 8, 2016). "Destiny Development Team Expands With Vicarious Visions". Polygon. Archived from the original on December 8, 2016. Retrieved January 4, 2017.
15. "Vicarious Visions Acquires Intrinsic Graphics Technology". www.gamasutra.com. Archived from the original on July 15, 2020. Retrieved June 15, 2019.
16. East, Thomas (July 2, 2013). "Skylanders Swap Force Wii will be very close to the HD versions". Official Nintendo Magazine. Archived from the original on July 5, 2013. Retrieved October 3, 2013.
17. Machkovech, Sam (February 19, 2021). "Diablo II Resurrected tops BlizzCon announcement flurry". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on February 20, 2021. Retrieved February 20, 2021.
18. Diablo (June 21, 2024). Diablo IV Campfire Chat - Season 5: PTR | June, 2024. Retrieved August 6, 2024 – via YouTube.
19. jkdmedia (May 4, 2012). "Shaun Palmer's Pro Snowboarder 2 Talent Announcement". GameZone. Retrieved June 7, 2023.
20. "Static Shock – In Development". VVisions.com. Vicarious Visions. Archived from the original on August 16, 2003. Retrieved March 1, 2023.
21. Leon Hurley (July 5, 2016). "The incredible story of Roman Wars: The lost Call of Duty game". gamesradar. Retrieved June 2, 2024.

External links

• Official website