THE WORLD’S MOST SUCCESSFUL GAME STUDIOS
In association with
18 VICARIOUS VISIONS TOP TITLES
USA PUBLISHER
HIGHEST UK CHART
£17.56m FORMATS
UK RELEASE REVENUE DATE
Founded: 1992 Owned by: Activision
1 SPIDER-MAN 3
STATISTICS
Last year’s position: 33
ACTIVISION
1
PS2, WII, DS, PSP
MAY 07
£8.18m
Head count: Undisclosed
ACTIVISION
3
DS, PSP
JUN 07
£2.20m
CONTACTS
2 SHREK THE THIRD
Address: Vicarious Visions, 150 Broadway, Suite 205,
3 MADAGASCAR
Menands, New York 12204
ACTIVISION
1
DS, GBA
JUN 05
£1.84m www.vvisions.com
4 TRANSFORMERS: THE GAME AUTOBOT
ACTIVISION
37
DS
JUL 07
£1.10m
ACTIVISION
3
DS, GBA
JUN 06
£1.07m
TOTAL:
£14.40m
5 OVER THE HEDGE
A drubbing by the reviewers wasn’t enough to squash Vicarious Visions’ Spider-Man 3, particularly its PS2 offering. Several DS titles from the erstwhile handheld specialist also performed well, underpinning a strong return to Develop 100 form for the wholly-owned Activision studio.
42
But it’s a DS game now in development, Guitar Hero: On Tour, which is causing most excitement. The game will ship with a plug-in ‘Guitar Grip’ controller, and Karthik Bala, Vicarious’ CEO and founder, promises more unique innovations to come in this summer’s handheld debut for the franchise.
(82% of total revenues)
Vicarious Visions is now entirely located in New York, after shutting down its Californian office last June. Details are scarce on other titles in development, but handheld versions of Activision’s 2008 portfolio are strong candidates. Following its parent’s merger, Blizzard’s IP might also be in the frame.