Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4 Remasters canned by Activision after Vicarious Visions merger
After the success of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2, you'd think a follow-up would be inevitable. Alas, Activision wasn't interested.
Were you one of the 1 million people that enjoyed Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 Remaster when it launched back in 2020? Did you think that – after becoming the fastest-selling game in the series – it would make sense for Activision to work on the inevitable sequel?
Well, you were wrong. As were we all, apparently. As per comments from the birdman, Tony Hawk, himself, plans for a follow-up game were scrapped when development studio Vicarious Visions was merged with Activision Blizzard.
Apparently, the publisher continued taking pitches from external developers once Vicarious Visions was folded into the mega-developer, but the company wasn't happy with any of the ideas that were being floated. Vicarious Visions would instead be put to work on Diablo 2: Resurrected, and the THPS Remake project would halt.
“I wish I could say that we had something in the works, but Vicarious Visions kind of got disbanded…” Hawk said in an interview with andyTHPS (thanks, Okami Games). "[Making 3+4 after 1+2], that was the plan. Even up until the release date of [1 + 2], we were going 3 + 4. And then Vicarious got absorbed and they were looking for other developers and then… it was over.”
So is a follow-up to the nostalgia-baiting remaster likely? Hawk remains dubious. “The truth of it is, they were trying to find someone to do 3 + 4, but they just didn’t really trust anyone the way they did Vicarious," he continued when a viewer asked a follow-up question. "So they took pitches from other studios, like ‘what would you do with a THPS title?’ and they didn’t like what they heard, and then that was it.”
It was only last May that we heard that Activision may be working on a new Tony Hawk's Pro Skater game, as CKY drummer Jess Margera hinted that the band would be involved in "the new [THPS game] coming out.”Whether that project will ever release remains to be seen; it would make sense for Microsoft to resurrect the project once it formally takes over Activision Blizzard – the THPS games would be a pretty significant get for the company, and would provide some sorely needed exclusive fodder going forwards.
Whether or not we'll see Phil Spencer bust a kickflip on-stage at The Game Awards to announce that at some point in the future, though, remains uncertain.