Tony Hawk remake developer Vicarious Visions merged into Blizzard Entertainment

Tony Hawks Pro Skater 1 2 Warehouse (Image credit: Activision)

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Update, January 22 (7:07 p.m. ET)

What you need to know

Vicarious Visions is an Activision studio that has worked on a wide range of projects.
Most recently, the team developed the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 remake.
Activision announced today that Vicarious Visions is being merged into Blizzard Entertainment.
This means the team will now work on Blizzard games and will no longer be a lead developer.

Update, January 22 (7:05 ET): Bloomberg reports that Blizzard quietly dissolved Team 1 that worked on classic games, while Vicarious Visions is developing a Diablo 2 remake.

Vicarious Visions has worked with Activision for decades, being in acquired in 2005 and developing on a wide range of different titles. Last year, Vicarious Visions developed the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 remake, to critical praise and commercial success with over a million copies sold as of September 2020. In a report from GamesIndustry.biz, we've learned that Activision is merging Vicarious Visions into Blizzard Entertainment.

The staff of 200 will now be "fully dedicated to existing Blizzard games and initiatives" which means we'll see this team support the development of games such as Diablo 4 and Overwatch 2. It also means Vicarious Visions will no longer be the lead developer on any projects, meaning we won't see this team on a possible Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4 remake.

Vicarious Visions studio head Jen Oneal has been promoted to Blizzard executive vice president of development, reporting to Blizzard president J. Allen Brack. Simon Ebejer, chief operating officer for Vicarious Visions, has been promoted to become the new studio head.

Update, January 22 (7:07 p.m. ET) — Diablo 2 remake changes hands

According to a report from Bloomberg, Blizzard dissolved its Team 1 group that was responsible for making classic titles like StarCraft 2 and Warcraft 3: Reforged. This team was working on a Diablo 2 remake, called Diablo II: Resurrected, which is now being handled by Vicarious Visions.