Many assumed that Activision was working up to a remake of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 4 following the critical and commercial success of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 in 2020. However, according to Birdman himself, those plans have been canceled.
As reported on by Video Games Chronicle, Hawk spoke about this on a livestream with Twisted Pixel Level Designer (an ex-Vicarious Visions Senior Designer) Andy Gentile. When Gentile nonchalantly brought up a possible remake of the third and fourth game, Hawk explained how it was once a real thing.
“That was the plan even up until the release date of [Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2],” said the professional skater. “We were going 3 + 4. And then Vicarious got kind of absorbed and they were looking for other developers and then it was over.”
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When asked if it was Activision that didn’t have faith in the project, Hawk explained that it got complicated when Vicarious Visions was folded into Blizzard Entertainment. Activision allegedly took pitches from other studios but didn’t trust them as much.
“The truth of it is that they were trying to find someone to do 3 + 4, but they just didn’t really trust anyone the way they did Vicarious, so they took other pitches from other studios, like, ‘What would you do with a THPS title?’ And they didn’t like anything they heard and then that was it.”
However, Hawk didn’t give up all hope.
“I mean, who knows? Maybe when all the dust settles, we’ll figure it out. You never know. I would never have imagined that we were gonna do 1 + 2 20 years later.”
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Gentile also seemingly corroborated Hawk’s story as he wrapped up his stream.
“I didn’t spill the beans,” said Gentile. “Let it be known.”
And even though some did initially expect a remake of the third and fourth installments, some of that hope dwindled when Vicarious Visions was folded into Blizzard and changed its name to Blizzard Albany, a process that started in early 2021. Being a support team for Blizzard made it hard to imagine that Vicarious would be able to pursue its own games.
Some have had similar sentiments regarding Toys for Bob, another Activision team that also developed the Spyro remakes and Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time. The developer was also relegated to a support studio after its successful games, meaning that it is possibly in the same boat as Vicarious Visions and might not have the chance to develop another installment in either series it helped resurrect. However, there has been no word either way and there is reportedly a multiplayer Crash game in the works (even if a developer wasn’t attached). Xbox CEO Phil Spencer has also shown interest in reviving old Activision IP if the deal goes through.