Report: Vicarious Visions To Lose Its Name and Merge With Blizzard

Activision Blizzard is currently facing serious ongoing allegations of harassment and mistreatment of marginalized workers. To learn more, please visit our timeline as well as our in-depth report on the subject.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 remake developer Vicarious Visions will reportedly lose its name in a rebrand that comes as part of its ongoing merger with Blizzard.

In January, it was announced that Vicarious Visions would be merging with the publisher to support a number of existing games and initiatives under Blizzard's remit. Now, according to a report published by Polygon, staff at the studio have been told that Vicarious Visions will lose its name as part of the merger.

Polygon reports that sources told it that plans to change the studio's name were announced to staff as part of a meeting this week. While a number of employees working at the studio told the outlet that they weren't necessarily surprised by the news, at least one employee criticized the nature of the announcement stating that it took place as part of a "light and quick" meeting where some staff were dressed in Halloween costumes.

With a number of questions surrounding the merger reportedly still left unanswered, those criticizing the announcement seemingly felt that the problem came down to a lack of clear communication. “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,” one staff member told Polygon.

While at present a new name for the studio has not yet been confirmed, some staff reportedly stated that they thought it may be rebranded to Blizzard Albany - a name that would be similar to that of the publisher's other offices.

Vicarious Visions was initially founded in 1991 before being acquired by Activision in January 2005. During its tenure under the publisher, the studio has worked on a number of key franchises including the likes of Guitar Hero, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, and Skylanders.

In other related news, this week Activision Blizzard stated that it will be implementing a new "zero-tolerance" harassment policy across its entire company. The announcement came as part of a letter from Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick, which also outlined a number of further changes that the company will be implementing.

Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.