Vicarious Visions will reportedly lose its name after 30 years
Lost in the Blizzard.
Veteran development studio Vicarious Visions will be rebranded as part of its ongoing move to become part of the embattled Blizzard.
That's according to a Polygon report with details from Vicarious Visions staff, who were apparently told about the name change during a recent company call.
Staff criticised the fact this detail was dropped during a "light and quick" meeting on a day they had been encouraged to dress up - and some were in Halloween costumes.
Vicarious Visions was originally founded in 1991, and became part of Activision in 2005. Its prolific output included work on the publisher's Tony Hawk, Guitar Hero and Skylanders franchises, as well as Destiny 2.
Most recently, it found acclaim for its work on the Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, and the well-received Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2.
But in January this year, Activision announced it was effectively handing over Vicarious Visions to its Blizzard arm instead, to work on Diablo.
Until now, Vicarious Visions staff said there had been no mention of a name change. But Blizzard studios are typically titled based on their location - making a switch to Blizzard Albany now likely.
"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," one staff member said.
Blizzard is currently embroiled in the ongoing lawsuits surrounding claims that the company was a toxic workplace environment, particularly for women. Earlier this week, it effectively canned plans to hold a BlizzCon gathering in 2022.