Vicarious Visions

***Vicarious Visions*** (VV), now known as Blizzard Albany, is an American video game developer based in Albany, New York. The company ported *Destiny 2* to PC and helped create the following *Destiny 2* releases: *Curse of Osiris*, *Warmind, Season of the Forge,* and *Season of Opulence*.

## Partnership With Bungie

On December 8, 2016, Vicarious Visions announced that they were partnering with Bungie through Activision to work on the *Destiny* franchise.

In May 2017, it was confirmed that VV was working on *Destiny 2's* PC port. A month later, it was announced that the PC port was being delayed and would launch 46 days after the console version.

> `"We’re excited to work with Bungie to bring the PC version of *Destiny 2* to every region Blizzard currently operates in," Blizzard's FAQ said. "Bungie is actively working through the global details. We look forward to sharing additional information later this year."`
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Activision CEO Eric Hirshberg said in a June 2017 interview about *Destiny 2* and other games. In it, he explained that Activision wasn't satisfied with Destiny's content droughts, which is why they were bringing Vicarious Visions and High Moon Studios in to help Bungie create *Destiny 2* content.

> `"One of the things you'll see post the launch of Destiny 2, is that we have got additional AAA developers from inside the Activision ecosystem working with Bungie on Destiny content, including Vicarious Visions and High Moon. That will allow us to keep an even more robust pipeline of content in the ecosystem," Hirshberg said.`
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In addition to working on *Destiny 2's* PC port, VV also helped Bungie develop the Curse of Osiris expansion. Bungie announced in April 2018 that Vicarious Visions had helped Bungie create *Destiny 2's* newest expansion, *Warmind,* and in the creation of the Rasputin ARG.

Prior to Bungie ending their partnership with Activision in 2019, Vicarious Visions helped work on *Season of the Forge* (including Niobe Labs) and *Season of Opulence*.

## Helsom Memorial

In September 2020, Bungie announced that they had created a tribute in Destiny 2 to honor a Vicarious Visions employe who had passed away in 2019, Matt Holsom:

> `**HONORING A FRIEND**`
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> `Next week, we have a tribute going live in game to honor one of our dear friends at Vicarious Visions who passed away last year, Matt Helsom. The weekly reset will include a director message that will send you to Mars for a short quest to honor Mr. Helsom. He worked closely with teams at both Bungie and VV on various projects during our partnership and we wanted to memorialize his contributions in the Destiny universe.`
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> `We wish all of his family, friends, and everyone he impacted during his life the very best. Thank you to everyone in the community who joins us in remembering this warm soul.`
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On September 22, *Destiny 2* players logged in to find a new message from Ana Bray, asking them to investigate a signal on Mars at a Golden Age Research Station that just came online. Players made their way to the Mindlab area, and about halfway there, discovered an open office door. Inside was a work station with a glass of water, a sticky note that said “Hot Dog!,” a sticker that indicated "no snakes," a red keyboard, and a datapad that had "MH" displayed on it. Upon investigating the datapad, players were asked to visit Ana, who shared information about Helsom through in-game lore:

>    `"I can't believe you found this," Ana says. "It's Helsom's journal."`
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> `"Helsom was a xenoarchaeologist during the Golden Age. He believed there were instances of contact between extrasolar species and humanity, long before the Traveler."`
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> `"By all accounts, Helsom was a cigar smoking, whiskey-drinking explorer who hated flying. He'd refused to use jumpships for planetary exploration. Would just hop in a rover and drive halfway across Mars to do his research."`
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> `"In spite of all that, every log entry I've ever heard made it sound like he was the happiest guy in the room. His laugh was just…"`
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> `Ana seems lost for a moment. "I don't know if Helsom ever found what he was looking for. According to this, he stayed here through the Collapse, because he believed in something."`
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> `"I guess I'll have to make that choice, too."`
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## References

1. ↑ Polygon - Destiny development team expands with Vicarious Visions (December 8, 2016)
2. ↑ VG247.com - Destiny 2 PC developed by Vicarious Visions (May 19, 2017)
3. ↑ Ars Technica - Destiny 2 will launch on PC 46 days after consoles (June 12, 2017)
4. ↑ Blizzard - Destiny 2 is Coming to Battle.net! (May 18, 2017)
5. ↑ VG247 - Destiny 2 content inbound from Vicarious Visions and High Moon, Activision boss "not happy" with first game's "cadence" (July 4, 2017)
6. ↑ GamesIndustry.biz - “Gamers are part of our creative process” - Activision's Eric Hirshberg
The Activision CEO on rescuing Call of Duty, re-launching Destiny and what comes next for Skylanders (July 3, 2017)
7. ↑ Variety - E3 Trailer: 'Destiny 2: Forsaken' Expansion Gets New Cinematic Trailer (June 11, 2018)
8. ↑ Bungie.net - This Week at Bungie - 4/12/2018
9. ↑ Bungie.net - Our Destiny (January 10, 2019)
10. ↑ Twitter - Vicarious Visions: The race to unlock Niobe Labs is on, Guardians! (January 8, 2019)
11. ↑ Attack on Geek - Destiny 2: Forsaken Annual Pass Starts Today Allowing Players to Visit the Black Armory
12. ↑ jaycediaz.com - Destiny 2: Forsaken - The Black Armory
13. ↑ Bungie.net - This Week at Bungie - 1/17/2019
14. ↑ Bungie.net - This Week at Bungie - 9/17/2020
15. ↑ YouTube - Memories of Helsom | Signal Intercepted | Season of Arrivals (August 18, 2022)