# Blizzard Albany

Blizzard Albany (formerly Vicarious Visions, Inc.) is an American video game development division of Blizzard Entertainment based in Albany, New York. Founded in 1991, the company was acquired by Activision in January 2005. In January 2021, Vicarious Visions became part of Activision's sister company Blizzard Entertainment and was merged into it in April 2022.

## History

The studio was founded by brothers Karthik and Guha Bala in 1991 while they were in high school. In the late 1990s, Vicarious Visions appointed Michael Marvin, an Albany-based investor and entrepreneur, and founder and former CEO of MapInfo Corporation; and Charles S. Jones, investor, who sat on the boards of various software and industrial companies including Geac and PSDI, to its board of directors. Under their leadership, a sale of the company was negotiated to Activision, earning the original investors over 20x their initial investment. In January 2005, Vicarious Visions was acquired by publisher Activision. In June 2007, Activision closed the Vicarious Visions' office in Mountain View, California. On April 5, 2016, the Bala brothers announced that they had left the company. The brothers then founded Velan Studios in November 2016.
On January 22, 2021, Vicarious Visions was moved by Activision Blizzard from a subsidiary of Activision to a subsidiary of Blizzard Entertainment. Going forward, more than 200 employees of Vicarious Visions will be employees of Blizzard. Vicarious had been working with Blizzard for about two years prior to this announcement, and specifically on the planned remaster of Diablo II, Diablo II: Resurrected, and Blizzard felt the move would be best as to have Vicarious' group provide continued support not only on the remaster but also on other Diablo properties including Diablo IV. Vicarious Visions studio head Jen Oneal moved to Blizzard's management and was succeeded by Simon Ebejer, previously the studio's chief operating officer. On October 27, 2021, Blizzard informed Vicarious Visions employees that the studio would change its name. The studio was fully merged into Blizzard on April 12, 2022, and was renamed Blizzard Albany, otherwise retaining its offices.
Blizzard Albany's quality assurance team, about 20 members in size, announced a unionization drive in July 2022 as Game Workers Alliance Albany. It follows Raven Software, another Activision Blizzard subsidiary, whose QA team voted to unionize earlier in the year.

## Game history

Terminus, an online multiplayer space trading and combat simulation game, won two Independent Games Festival Awards in 1999. They became known as a leading developer of handheld games breaking ground by the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series, developing Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS titles in the franchise's main series as well as one spin off. They developed the first three Crash Bandicoot GBA games. Vicarious Visions developed Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2: Enter Electro, Ultimate Spider-Man, Crash Nitro Kart, Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast, Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy, and Doom 3 for the Xbox. Vicarious Visions developed for the Guitar Hero series on the Nintendo DS and Wii platforms. For Guitar Hero: On Tour, Vicarious Visions created the "Guitar Grip" peripheral for the Nintendo DS, which emulates the guitar controller for the portable system.
It was revealed on June 10, 2011, that Vicarious Visions was working on the 3DS version of Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure, and would go on to have an important role in developing the Skylanders game series, creating the games Skylanders: Swap Force and Skylanders: SuperChargers. On December 8, 2016, Vicarious Visions announced that they were partnering with Bungie to work on the Destiny franchise.

## Game engine

Vicarious Visions Alchemy is the company's game engine. It was released in 2002. It was originally called Intrinsic Alchemy and developed by Intrinsic Graphics before being renamed after Vicarious Visions acquired Intrinsic Graphics in 2003.

## Games developed

| Year | Game | Platform(s) | Notes |
| 1996 | Synnergist | Microsoft DOS (PC CD-ROM) | |
| 1997 | Dark Angael | Microsoft Windows | |
| 1999 | Zebco Fishing! | Game Boy Color | |
| 1999 | Vigilante 8 | Game Boy Color | |
| 2000 | Polaris SnoCross | Game Boy Color, Nintendo 64, PlayStation, Microsoft Windows | |
| 2000 | Terminus | Microsoft Windows, MacOS, Linux | |
| 2000 | Spider-Man | Game Boy Color | |
| 2000 | The Wild Thornberrys: Rambler | Game Boy Color | |
| 2000 | Pro Darts | Game Boy Color | |
| 2000 | Barbie: Magic Genie Adventure | Game Boy Color | |
| 2000 | Jimmy White's Cue Ball | Game Boy Color | |
| 2001 | Wanadoo SnowCross | Game Boy Color, Microsoft Windows | |
| 2001 | Rescue Heroes: Fire Frenzy | Game Boy Color | |
| 2001 | Blue's Clues: Blue's Alphabet Book | Game Boy Color | |
| 2001 | SpongeBob SquarePants: Legend of the Lost Spatula | Game Boy Color | |
| 2001 | Zoboomafoo: Playtime in Zobooland | Game Boy Color | |
| 2001 | Monsters, Inc. | Game Boy Color | |
| 2001 | Kelly Club: Clubhouse Fun | Game Boy Color | |
| 2001 | Sea-Doo Hydrocross | PlayStation | |
| 2001 | Spider-Man 2: Enter Electro | PlayStation | |
| 2001 | Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 | Game Boy Advance | |
| 2001 | Power Rangers: Time Force | Game Boy Advance | |
| 2001 | Spider-Man: Mysterio's Menace | Game Boy Advance | |
| 2002 | Crash Bandicoot: The Huge Adventure | Game Boy Advance | |
| 2002 | Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 | Game Boy Advance | |
| 2002 | Frogger Advance: The Great Quest | Game Boy Advance | |
| 2002 | SpongeBob SquarePants: Revenge of the Flying Dutchman | Game Boy Advance | |
| 2002 | The Powerpuff Girls: Him and Seek | Game Boy Advance | |
| 2002 | Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 | Game Boy Advance, PlayStation | |
| 2002 | Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast | GameCube, Xbox | |
| 2002 | Whiteout | Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, Xbox | |
| 2003 | The Muppets: On With The Show! | Game Boy Advance, Microsoft Windows | |
| 2003 | Crash Bandicoot 2: N-Tranced | Game Boy Advance | |
| 2003 | Bruce Lee: Return of the Legend | Game Boy Advance | |
| 2003 | X2: Wolverine's Revenge | Game Boy Advance | |
| 2003 | Finding Nemo | Game Boy Advance | |
| 2003 | Jet Set Radio | Game Boy Advance | |
| 2003 | Disney's Extreme Skate Adventure | Game Boy Advance | |
| 2003 | Disney's The Lion King 1½ | Game Boy Advance | |
| 2003 | Tony Hawk's Underground | Game Boy Advance | |
| 2003 | SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom | Game Boy Advance | |
| 2003 | Disney's Brother Bear | Game Boy Advance | |
| 2003 | Crash Nitro Kart | Game Boy Advance, GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox, N-Gage | |
| 2003 | Spy Muppets: License to Croak | Game Boy Advance, Microsoft Windows | |
| 2003 | Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy | Xbox | |
| 2004 | Rivet | Mobile phone | |
| 2004 | Spider-Man vs. Doc Ock | Mobile phone | |
| 2004 | Shrek 2 | Game Boy Advance | |
| 2004 | Crash Bandicoot Purple: Ripto's Rampage and Spyro Orange: The Cortex Conspiracy | Game Boy Advance | |
| 2004 | Shark Tale | Game Boy Advance | |
| 2004 | Tony Hawk's Underground 2 | Game Boy Advance | |
| 2004 | That's So Raven | Game Boy Advance | |
| 2004 | Shrek 2: Beg For Mercy! | Game Boy Advance | |
| 2004 | Codename: Kids Next Door – Operation: S.O.D.A. | Game Boy Advance | |
| 2004 | Spider-Man 2 | Nintendo DS, PlayStation Portable | |
| 2005 | Doom 3 | Xbox | |
| 2005 | Madagascar: Operation Penguin | Game Boy Advance | |
| 2005 | Batman Begins | Game Boy Advance | |
| 2005 | X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse | PlayStation Portable | |
| 2005 | Madagascar | Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS | |
| 2005 | Ultimate Spider-Man | Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS | |
| 2005 | Tony Hawk's American Sk8land | Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS | |
| 2006 | Over the Hedge | Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS | |
| 2006 | Over the Hedge: Hammy Goes Nuts | Game Boy Advance | |
| 2006 | Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam | Nintendo DS | |
| 2006 | Marvel: Ultimate Alliance | PlayStation Portable, Wii | |
| 2007 | Spider-Man 3 | Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Wii | |
| 2007 | Shrek the Third | Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS | |
| 2007 | Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock | Wii | |
| 2007 | Transformers: Decepticons | Nintendo DS | |
| 2007 | Transformers: Autobots | Nintendo DS | |
| 2007 | Tony Hawk's Proving Ground | Nintendo DS | |
| 2007 | Bee Movie Game | Nintendo DS | |
| 2008 | Kung Fu Panda | Nintendo DS | |
| 2008 | Guitar Hero: On Tour | Nintendo DS | |
| 2008 | 007: Quantum of Solace | Nintendo DS | |
| 2008 | Guitar Hero On Tour: Decades | Nintendo DS | |
| 2008 | Guitar Hero: Aerosmith | Wii | |
| 2008 | Guitar Hero World Tour | Wii | |
| 2009 | Guitar Hero 5 | Wii | |
| 2009 | Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 | PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 | |
| 2009 | Band Hero | Nintendo DS, Wii | |
| 2009 | Mixed Messages | DSiWare | |
| 2009 | Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen - Decepticons | Nintendo DS | |
| 2009 | Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen - Autobots | Nintendo DS | |
| 2009 | Guitar Hero On Tour: Modern Hits | Nintendo DS | |
| 2010 | Transformers War for Cybertron: Decepticons | Nintendo DS | |
| 2010 | Transformers War for Cybertron: Autobots | Nintendo DS | |
| 2010 | Guitar Hero | iOS | |
| 2010 | Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock | Wii | |
| 2011 | Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure | Nintendo 3DS | |
| 2012 | Skylanders: Cloud Patrol | iOS, Android, Kindle Fire | |
| 2012 | Skylanders: Lost Islands | iOS, Android | |
| 2012 | Skylanders: Battlegrounds | iOS, Android | |
| 2012 | Skylanders: Giants | Wii U | |
| 2013 | Skylanders: Swap Force | PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One | |
| 2014 | Skylanders: Trap Team | iOS, Android, Kindle Fire | |
| 2015 | Skylanders: SuperChargers | PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One, iOS | |
| 2016 | Skylanders: Imaginators (Crash Edition) | PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch | |
| 2016 | Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare | PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows | |
| 2017 | Destiny 2 | Microsoft Windows | |
| 2017 | Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy | PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Microsoft Windows | |
| 2020 | Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 | PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch | |
| 2020 | Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War | PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S | Assisted Raven Software |
| 2021 | Call of Duty: Warzone | PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S | Assisted Raven Software |
| 2021 | Diablo II: Resurrected | PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Microsoft Windows | Co-developed with Blizzard Team 3 |
| 2023 | Diablo IV | PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Microsoft Windows | Co-developed with Blizzard Team 3 |
| 2024 | Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred | PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Microsoft Windows | Co-developed with Blizzard Team 3 |

## Cancelled games

| Year | Game | Platform(s) |
| 2000 | AMF Xtreme Bowling | Game Boy Color |
| 2000 | VR Sports Powerboat Racing | Game Boy Color |
| 2000 | Carnivale | Game Boy Color |
| 2001 | Sea-Doo Hydrocross | Game Boy Color, Dreamcast, Nintendo 64 |
| 2003 | Shaun Palmer's Pro Snowboarder 2 | Game Boy Advance |
| 2003 | Static Shock | Game Boy Advance |
| 2008 | Call of Duty: Roman Wars | Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 |