The news that Vicarious Visions would bemerged with Blizzardand be reworked into a support studio didn’t sit well with some people. Many found the decision bizarre since Vicarious Visions was responsible for theCrash Bandicoot N. Sane TrilogyandTony Hawk’s Pro Skaterremakes, which were both critical and commercial successes. Yet instead of letting the studio continue to make its own games, Activision would rather have it assist with Blizzard’s projects.
Now it is being reported that the studio won’t even be called Vicarious Visions anymore. According to Polygon, employees were told on Wednesday that, as part of the merger with Blizzard,Activisionwill be changing its name. The new name hasn’t been announced yet, although it’s suspected to just be Blizzard Albany since Vicarious Visions’ offices are based in Albany, New York.
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Anonymous employees told Polygon that, while the studio was now owned by Blizzard, they were under the impression that Vicarious Visions would still operate as its own studio. Given the name change, this doesn’t seem to be the case anymore. Fortunately, it sounds like there won’t be any layoffs, but employees seem to still be disappointed with the decision.
While most of them admit that they saw the name change coming, one employee criticized the lack of transparency and the sudden announcement. Apparently, it was made during a “light and quick” meeting during a costume day, with several employees dressed up forHalloween.
Employees don’t expect there to be any drastic changes at the studio, but a number of questions have yet to be answered. One employee directly references Activision’s promise to be more transparent in the wake of the lawsuits:
“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.”
As a reminder, Activision Blizzard is still facing a lawsuit filed by California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH), which alleges that the company has fostered a toxic workplace, resulting in numerous instances of harassment, discrimination, and abuse, particularly towards its women employees. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) own investigation turned up similar results, although Activision reached a settlement with that lawsuit. A third lawsuit has been filed byActivision’s own investors, who accuse the company of deliberately making misleading and false statements.
The initial DFEH lawsuit has become somewhat complicated since it and the EEOC butted heads over Activision’s settlement, resulting in the DFEH being accused ofviolating the California Rules of Professional Conduct. Activision had hoped that the DFEH’s conflict of interest would provide substantial grounds to pause its lawsuit, but the request has now been denied.
