Activision canceled the development of a Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3+4 remake earlier this year. At least that’s what is being claimed by the cover star himself. Skateboarding legend Tony Hawk spoke on andyTHPS’ Twitch channel during a Pro Skater 1+2 stream. In this stream, he details why a THPS 3+4 remake isn’t looking likely, and the role Vicarious Visions and its handler played in that decision.
Hawk was asked if there was another Tony Hawk game being developed. However, his comments suggest that this is not the case with him saying, “I wish I could say we had something in the works.” Hawk then goes on to state that developer Vicarious Visions’ dismantling and merging into Blizzard is the reason behind this.
More interestingly, Hawk then confirms that there were plans for a Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3+4 remake following the success of 1+2. But this was canceled as Activision didn’t feel comfortable handing the license over to another developer. Hawk claims that the publisher took pitches from interested studios, but didn’t “trust anyone like the way they did Vicarious Visions.”
Blizzard’s a little busy
The pitch asked the interested studios what they would do with the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater license. In other words, what would their vision of Pro Skater look like? Unfortunately, these pitches failed to pique Activision’s interest. Whether or not Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3+4 can be expected at some point in the future is unclear, now that it’s looking canceled.
Needless to say, Activision Blizzard has a lot going on right now. From the ongoing workplace culture allegations to the Xbox acquisition, this probably isn’t the time to be trying anything new. Handing over the Tony Hawk name to an unproven developer could have terrible consequences. The last time the series was moved from Neversoft to Robomodo it resulted in some of the worst skateboarding games ever made. At its lowest point, Robomodo created Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5, which is one of the worst-reviewed AAA games ever.
