Two Brothers
One Vicarious Vision

Vicarious Visions started out in 1991 as a "hobby" for Guha and Karthik Bala in their parent's basement, while they were in high school in Rochester, N.Y.  A few years later they landed their first publishing deal when Karthik was a freshman at Rensselaer. They formed a team of eight friends from college and in 1999, they entered the first Independent Games Festival. They won two awards – Best Programming and Best Audio which put them on the map and provided visibility amongst the big game publishers. 

Over the years that followed, they were able to secure angel investment and an acquisition which allowed them to stay independently run. They've shared the stage with Steve Jobs, debut new game releases regularly and are ranked 18th among the world's top developers.

The Severino Center is proud to recognize the accomplishments of Vicarious Visions founders, Karthik and Guha Bala, at the 2013 Rensselaer Entrepreneur of the Year Award Celebration.

 Karthik Bala '97

Karthik serves as chief executive officer of Vicarious Visions as well as chief technology officer of Activision Mobile, a division of Activision Publishing.  He has served as board member on several organizations and currently on the Board of Trustees of WMHT, a Public Broadcast radio and television affiliate. 

 Guha Bala  

In addition to his role as president of Vicarious Visions, Guha has served as a board member of the Rensselaer County Chamber of Commerce. He has been a speaker at numerous industry conferences including the Game Developers Conference and Electronic Entertainment Expo.  

 Learn more about Vicarious Visions