Vicarious Visions

Vicarious Visions was an American video game developer founded in 1990 by brothers Karthik and Guha Bala in Troy, New York. Over three decades the studio built a reputation for high-quality licensed games and faithful remasters before being merged into Blizzard Entertainment in January 2021 and fully dissolved into what became Blizzard Albany in 2022. The studio no longer exists as an independent entity, but its work on the Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 made it one of the most respected remaster studios in the industry before it was absorbed.

Early History and Activision Acquisition

Vicarious Visions started building educational software before pivoting to games. Their early catalog included licensed titles across multiple platforms, developing a specialization in ports and handheld versions of major franchises. Activision acquired the studio in 2005, and the relationship proved productive over the following fifteen years. During the Activision years the studio worked on Guitar Hero ports, Skylanders support, Call of Duty support work, and a stint as a support studio for Bungie on Destiny 2’s PC version, before being handed two of the most high-profile remaster projects in gaming history.

Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy

The Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, released in 2017, was the project that elevated Vicarious Visions from a respected support studio to a remaster specialist with genuine prestige. Tasked with rebuilding the original Naughty Dog trilogy from scratch rather than simply upscaling the originals, the team produced something that held up against the originals while looking like a modern game. It sold over 10 million copies and proved there was a market for careful, faithful remasters of PlayStation-era classics at a time when the industry was not sure whether that was true.

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 released in September 2020 and became the best-selling game in the Tony Hawk franchise, selling over one million copies in its first weeks. The remake rebuilt the first two games with modern graphics while preserving the physics and feel that made the originals iconic, a balance that is harder than it sounds and that Vicarious Visions executed almost without complaint from a fanbase that tends to be protective of its nostalgia. It was the studio’s final project before the merger. Plans to continue with Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3+4 were dropped when the studio was absorbed into Blizzard, and that project eventually went to Iron Galaxy, releasing in July 2025.

Merger into Blizzard and Dissolution

On January 22, 2021, Activision Blizzard announced that Vicarious Visions would be merged into Blizzard Entertainment and fully dedicated to Blizzard titles. The studio’s roughly 200 employees moved under the Blizzard umbrella while remaining based in Albany, New York rather than relocating to Blizzard’s Anaheim headquarters. Studio head Jen Oneal was promoted to Blizzard executive vice president of development. The team’s first work under Blizzard was Diablo II: Resurrected, released in 2021. By 2022 the Vicarious Visions name was retired entirely and the team became Blizzard Albany, where they have since contributed to Diablo IV and other Blizzard projects.