Vicarious Visions Has Become Blizzard Albany

Last year we found out that developer Vicarious Visions, an Activision subsidiary since 2005, was being moved within the company to merge with Blizzard Entertainment instead. It was a change that was bemoaned by many who were fans of the developer’s works over the years, especially with their most recent successes being Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2.

The first game they worked on under Blizzard Entertainment was 2021’s Diablo II: Resurrected. Although the game was released to favorable reviews, it wasn’t confirmed what they would be working on next aside from rumors and expectations that they would be working on the upcoming Diablo IV. It now appears that the merger has finally been completed, it’s resulted in the studio changing its name, and we technically know what they’re working on.

We've officially merged with Blizzard Entertainment. Our development team will remain in Albany, NY and fully dedicated to Blizzard games. We invite you to follow us @Blizzard_Ent

— Vicarious Visions (@VvisionsStudio) April 12, 2022

A tweet from the studio confirmed the official merger and their full dedication to Blizzard Entertainment games. The link to the website in their Twitter bio meanwhile now leads to the new Blizzard Albany location on the Blizzard Entertainment career website.

This was to be expected, as it was reported in October of last year by Polygon that the studio had been informed they would be losing their name in the merger to something else. Given Blizzard’s naming convention with their other locations, Blizzard Albany was a surefire bet.

While many are expressing sadness or hope as the studio heads into a new chapter, there is some important news to be found on that new career page. Every single one of their jobs at this new location is for work on the upcoming Diablo IV. This does effectively confirm that the studio is contributing to the next entry in the series.

Aside from some short quarterly updates on the Diablo YouTube channel and news that it would be delayed, there haven’t been many updates on the next iteration. The last trailer we received was the Rogue character class trailer early last year. With the new Blizzard Albany revealed to be working on it maybe we’ll see something sooner rather than later, even though BlizzCon won’t be held this year.