Technology Briefing | Deals: Activision Buys Game Developer

Activision, maker of the Spider-Man 2 and Tony Hawk's Underground video games, has acquired Vicarious Visions for an undisclosed price to help it develop new games. Vicarious Visions, a closely held company, has created five games that sold more than a million copies each and is currently helping develop Doom 3 for Microsoft's Xbox game system, Activision, based in Santa Monica, Calif., said yesterday. The purchase is part of Activision's plan to buy game developers to help it take advantage of the expanding market for new programs.