Vicarious Visions drops its name in merger with Blizzard, sources say

Activision Blizzard told Vicarious Visions employees Wednesday it would be closing its studio as part of the ongoing merger with Blizzard, according to sources.

Behind the studio Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 and 2Work on the newly released Diablo2. ResurrectedIn January, Blizzard Entertainment officially merged the two companies. Vicarious Visions has been in partnership with Blizzard Entertainment since January. OverwatchAnd World of Warcraft publisher for some time, but the official merger meant that its primary focus would shift to “long-term support” of Blizzard games.

Workers at Vicarious Visions told Polygon they initially believed that the merger would allow their employer to continue operating as its studio even though it belonged to Blizzard. On Wednesday morning, the town hall met to announce that the name change had occurred. The studio’s new name is still unknown, although some workers suggested it could simply be known as Blizzard. (Vicarious Visions’ office is located in Albany, New York. Blizzard uses this name convention to identify its satellite offices. This is the case for Blizzard Austin (Texas).

Jen Oneal (ex-head of Vicarious Visions’ studio) was elected co-president for Blizzard Entertainment. (She was appointed executive vice president for development by Blizzard in January’s merger.

Polygon reached out about the development to Activision Blizzard representatives. At the time of this publication, we still haven’t received a response.

Most of the Vicarious Visions employees who spoke to Polygon said they aren’t necessarily surprised by the announcement, with one noting that the “writing was on the wall.” But at least one worker was disappointed by the lack of transparency and sudden announcement during a “light and quick” meeting on what employees described as a costume day. Several employees were wearing Halloween costumes for the call.

According to employees speaking to Polygon, leadership said that there are no planned layoffs. With the merger already announced and underway, staffers didn’t expect much to change otherwise, but some employees noted that there were still a lot of questions unanswered.

“For all of the leadership’s talk about being more transparent in response to the lawsuit and resulting fiasco, the fact they decided to blindside us all with this feels about as far from transparent as you can get,” an employee told Polygon.

Vicarious Visions, founded by high schoolers Karthik Bala and Guha Balia in Albany, N.Y., in 1991. Knockout City Electronic Arts. Activision sold the studio to Balas in 2005, and it was taken over by them in 2016.

Prior to the studio’s formal merger with Blizzard Entertainment, Vicarious Visions had worked on ports for titles like Ultimate Spider-Man, Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast Jedi Academy.

Activision Blizzard currently faces wide-ranging allegations that it maintains a toxic workplace environment that’s particularly hostile to women. California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) investigated the company for two years before filing the lawsuit, and found that women are paid less and subject to sexual harassment, without meaningful punishment applied to perpetrators. In the period since the lawsuit was filed in late July, the DFEH has expanded its complaint to include allegations that Activision Blizzard “suppressed” evidence in its investigation. This claim is denied by the company.

Activision Blizzard faces multiple lawsuits and a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission probe. The U.S. filed one of the lawsuits. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission settled earlier in the year for $18 Million.

Over 40 Activision Blizzard employees were disciplined over the course of the three months that followed the DFEH suit. Blizzard also fulfilled its promises to rename it in the wake of DFEH. Overwatch character formerly known as Jesse McCree: He’s now Cole Cassidy.

Employees at the company continued speaking out via social media and other platforms to promote substantial change. You can read more about the allegations against Activision Blizzard in Polygon’s explainer.

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