The combination of Vicarious Visions’ proven proprietary Alchemy middleware technology and tools with Activision’s next-generation tools and libraries is expected to enhance the company’s overall development efforts.
Activision said that the acquisition underscored its strategy to continue building its technical infrastructure in order to take full advantage of the high-growth potential of the next-generation hardware platforms.
Vicarious Visions has developed five games that have sold more than one million-units each and is currently co-developing the highly anticipated Doom 3 for the Xbox with id Software, as well as Spider-Man 2, which will be a launch title for the upcoming PSP platform.
In addition, they have developed such popular titles for the Game Boy Advance as Shrek 2, Shrek 2: Beg for Mercy, DreamWorks’ Shark Tale and Tony Hawk’s Underground 2 and Spider-Man 2: Enter Electro for the PlayStation game console.
Under the terms of the agreement, Vicarious Visions’ 100-person studio, headquartered in Troy, New-York, with offices in Mountain View, California, has become a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision. As part of the transaction, Vicarious Visions’ management team and key employees have signed long-term employment contracts with Activision.