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Vicarious Visions, the developer of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 is going to be merged with Blizzard Entertainment, and as such will no longer be a lead developer on games.
- Read More: How do you bring the ‘Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater’ soundtrack into 2020? We asked the man who did
The studio worked with publishers Activision Blizzard in the past to release and support Tony Hawks Pro Skater 1 + 2.
In a conversation with GamesIndustry.Biz, Activation Blizzard explained that they are are folding Vicarious Visions wholesale into the Blizzard side of the business.
The publisher explained that Vicarious Vision’s team of 200 people will now be employees of Blizzard, and will be “fully dedicated to existing Blizzard games and initiatives”.
The report continues, saying “Blizzard realized there was an opportunity for [Vicarious Visions] to provide long-term support,” but there has been no official reveal of what they are working on with Blizzard.
A subsequent report by Jason Schreier for Bloomberg (paywalled) claims that Vicarious Visions have been working on the long rumoured Diablo II remake, Diablo II: Resurrected.
Blizzard said today that it's absorbing Vicarious Visions. What it didn't say:
– VV has been working on a Diablo II remake
– Team 1, Blizzard's "classic team," was quietly dismantled last fallNew from me, including some insight on WC3 Reforged: https://t.co/VGczypoBPi
— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) January 22, 2021
Schreier explained on Twitter that the remake has been taken away from Blizzard’s ‘Team1’ also known as the ‘Classic Team’. They were chiefly in charge of supporting StarCraft 2 and Heroes of the Storm, as well as the poorly received Warcraft 3 Reforged. but were reportedly dismantled.
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 made history for the franchise last year by becoming the best selling Tony Hawk game ever, making selling over a million copies as of Setpember 2020.
The game received widespread critical acclaim on release, and was reviewed by NME’s Jordan Oloman who gave it a five-star review who said that it was “a game oozing with passion and care”.
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