Summary
A newly released report allegedly reveals that a focus onCall of Dutywas the real reason why a pitch for aTony Hawk’s Pro Skater3+4remake collection from Vicarious Visions was denied by Activision. This unfortunate update on the long-rumored compilation is likely to disappoint longtimeTony Hawk’s Pro Skaterfans, who haven’t exactly been getting the best treatment over the last decade or so.
After the release of the critically-laudedTony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2compilation in 2020, the future of thebeloved skateboarding gameseries was finally looking bright again. Following years of mistreatment by Activision, the series' sudden return with such a quality game was a very pleasant surprise for many fans. The momentum came to a halt, however, whenTHPS 1+2developer Vicarious Visions was officially folded into Blizzard in 2022. Fans have been hoping forTony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3and4to get the same treatment that the first two installments in the series did, but with Activision showing no sign of revisitingTony Hawkanytime soon, the potential remake compilations have been left in the dust. A recent update regarding this situation might give fans an explanation as to why Activision seemingly ditched the collection, but it’s not one they’ll be happy with.
In a video from DidYouKnowGaming’s Liam Robertson, the video game historian claims that sources from Vicarious Visions told him that a pitch for aTony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3+4remake collectionwas rejected by Activision in favor of moreCall of Dutysupport work. Robertson elaborated on this, stating that the proposed remakes of the third and fourth installments in theTony Hawkfranchise were intended to be bundled alongside1+2from the very beginning. Unfortunately, though, the developers behind the compilation ran out of time, resulting in them settling on adding “some handling features from the later games” to the1+2remakes, instead of rebuilding3and4from scratch as well.
Despite the commercial success ofTony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2, Vicarious Visions was unable to work on the proposedTHPS 3+4remakes, with Activision instead shifting the developer’s efforts toCall of Dutyand the then-upcomingDiablo 2: Resurrected. In 2022, Tony Hawk himself corroborated some of these claims, expressing that there were indeed plans at one point to remakeTHPS 3and4. According to him, though, after Vicarious got absorbed into Blizzard, Activision “tried to find somebody to do 3 and 4, but they just didn’t really trust anyone the way they did Vicarious,” thus resulting in the proposed remakes being canceled. This, of course, led to a lot offans being unhappy atTony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3+4’s alleged cancellation at the time.
What Are the Chances of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3+4 Remakes Being Revived By Microsoft?
Sadly, it seems like these proposed remakes will likely never see the light of day. WithVicarious Visions being rebranded as Blizzard Albany, it’s unknown if theTony Hawkfranchise will even get another new installment anytime soon. At this point, the only thing fans can hope for is for Microsoft to step in and greenlight anotherTony Hawk’s Pro Skatergame, but that’s unfortunately pretty unlikely.
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater is a series of skateboarding games from Activision. The original trilogy of games, which were developed by Neversoft and released between 1999 and 2001, were huge hits with critics.2002’s Pro Skater 4 was also well received, although 2015’s Pro Skater 5 received a brutal 32 Metascore on PS4. The first two Pro Skater games were remastered in 2020.
