Bottom line: Vicarious Visions, the studio behind Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2 and Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy remasters, has been officially merged into Blizzard Entertainment. From here on out, Vicarious Visions will be "fully dedicated" to providing support for upcoming Blizzard titles.
Vicarious Visions has been collaborating with Blizzard---the developer behind the World of Warcraft, Diablo, and Overwatch game series---for some time, and according to a statement shared with GamesIndustry, the two companies have formed "a great relationship."
As part of the move, Vicarious Visions' team of 200 staff will be officially employed by Blizzard, and the company will be "fully dedicated to existing Blizzard games and initiatives."
Although we don't know what Vicarious Visions' team will be working on now, we do know that Blizzard has a number of upcoming titles currently in development, including Diablo IV, Overwatch 2, and Diablo Immortal.
Diablo IV was unveiled at Blizzard's annual BlizzCon convention back in 2019. With the coronavirus pandemic impacting upon---and in most cases, delaying---game development around the world, Blizzard may call on the Vicarious Visions team to help move this title along. Another potential idea is that the studio will be commissioned with a Diablo 2 full remaster.
Vicarious Visions was acquired by Activision in 2005. Since then it's worked on countless titles for the publisher, including the Guitar Hero, Destiny, and Call of Duty game series.
As part of the merger, Vicarious Visions studio head Jen Oneal has been promoted to executive vice president of development at Blizzard. Oneal's previous role has been given to Simon Ebejer, who previously served as COO for the studio.