Vicarious Visions is an American video game developer owned by Activision Blizzard founded in 1991 by brothers Karthnik and Guha Bala.
From their inception they were primarily known as a support studio, mainly focused on handheld ports and tie-ins to larger titles, as well as licensed games. In 2005, they were purchased by Activision. They later achieved greater mainstream recognition in 2017 with the release of the Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, a remake of the first three Crash Bandicoot games. This was followed by remakes of the first two Tony Hawk's Pro Skater games, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2.
After the release of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2, Vicarious Visions was reorganized to become a support studio on the Call of Duty franchise. On January 22, 2021, it was announced that the studio would be fully-absorbed into Blizzard Entertainment and renamed Blizzard Albany, a merger that was fully completed on April 12, 2022. Shortly before this reorganization, the founders would depart from Vicarious Visions to found a new company, Velan Studios.
Games developed by Vicarious Visions:
- Dark Angael (1997)
- Zebco Fishing! (1999)
- Vigilante 8 (1999)
- Polaris SnoCross (2000)
- Terminus (2000)
- Spider-Man:
- Spider-Man (2000, Game Boy Color version)
- Spider-Man 2 – Enter: Electro (2001)
- Spider-Man: Mysterio's Menace (2001)
- Spider-Man 2 (Activision) (2004, Nintendo DS version)
- Ultimate Spider-Man (2005, GBA and DS versions)
- Spider-Man 3 (Activision) (2007, PlayStation 2, Nintendo Wii, PlayStation Portable, GBA and DS versions)
- The Wild Thornberrys: Rambler (2000)
- Pro Darts (2000)
- Barbie: Magic Genie Adventure (2000)
- Jimmy White's Cue Ball (2000)
- SpongeBob SquarePants:
- Sea-Doo Hydrocross (2001)
- Tony Hawk's Pro Skater: (2001 — 2020)
- Disney's Extreme Skate Adventure (2003)
- Tony Hawk's Underground (2003)
- Tony Hawks Underground 2 (2004)
- Power Rangers Time Force (2001, GBA version, with Engine Software)
- Crash Bandicoot:
- Crash Bandicoot: The Huge Adventure (2002)
- Crash Bandicoot 2: N-Tranced (2003)
- Crash Nitro Kart (2003)
- Crash Bandicoot Purple: Ripto's Rampage (2004)
- Spyro Orange: The Cortex Conspiracy (2004)
- Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy (2017)
- Frogger Advance: The Great Quest (2002)
- Star Wars:
- Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast (2002)
- Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy (2003)
- The Muppets:
- X2: Wolverine's Revenge (2003)
- Finding Nemo (2003, GBA version)
- Jet Grind Radio (2003, GBA version)
- The Lion King 1 ½ (2003)
- Shrek:
- Shrek 2 (2004)
- Shrek the Third (2007)
- Shark Tale (2004, GBA version)
- Doom³ (2005, Xbox version)
- Batman Begins (2005)
- Madagascar (2005, GBA and Nintendo DS versions)
- Over the Hedge (2006)
- Marvel: Ultimate Alliance (2006)
- Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 (2009)
- Guitar Hero: (2007 — 2010)
- Transformers: The Game (DS) (2007)
- Transformers: War for Cybertron (2010, DS version)
- Bee Movie Game (2007, DS version)
- Kung Fu Panda (2008)
- Quantum of Solace (Activision) (2008)
- Spyro the Dragon
- Skylanders
- Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure (2011, Nintendo 3DS version)
- Skylanders: Giants (2012, with Toys for Bob, Wii U port)
- Skylanders: SWAP Force (2013, HD versions)
- Skylanders: Trap Team (2014, with Toys for Bob, iOS, Android and Fire versions)
- Skylanders: SuperChargers (2015)
- Skylanders
Trivia associated with Vicarious Visions
- What Could Have Been: After completing Skylanders SuperChargers, the studio began working on a pitch
for a 3D Donkey Kong title for the Nintendo Switch. Codenamed "Freedom," it would've been set on an open-world island and focused greatly on flow and movement, with the signature traversal method being grinding on vines with banana peels. Despite Nintendo showing interest, the project was cancelled by Activision Blizzard in early 2016 in favor of the developer becoming a support studio for Destiny 2 and the Call of Duty franchise, prompting the departure of the studio's founders.