Birdman Grounded
Skateboarding extraordinaire and world’s most familiar man Tony Hawk has noted that a “Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4” remake was on deck, but was ultimately canned when Activision merged developer Vicarious Visions into Blizzard.
As you’ll recall, in 2020 Vicarious released its critically acclaimed Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2, rebuilding the two classic PlayStation titles from the ground up while maintaining 1:1 gameplay to the legendary original releases. The remake would go on to become the fast-selling entry in franchise history, raking in a million sales in just its first week of release. Naturally, this led fans to hope that both Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 4 would receive similar attention in the near future.
But, speaking on a Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater Twitch stream this past weekend, (as spotted by Okami Games), The Birdman himself has suggested that while further remakes were planned, the controversial merging of Vicarious Visions with Blizzard has most assuredly put paid to that idea, and perhaps permanently.
“I mean, that was the plan, even up until the release date of this, [Tony Hawk Pro Skater 1 + 2]. We were going three and four, and then Vicarious got kind of absorbed and they were looking for other developers and then it was over,” explained Hawk. “I wish I could say we had something in the works, but you know Vicarious Visions kind of got disbanded and Activision’s going through all their stuff, so I don’t know what’s next.”
At the time, Activision came under heavy criticism from the gaming community, who saw the Vicarious merger as a sign that creativity and variety was being reduced in favor of getting every studio behind company cash cows franchises such as Call of Duty and World of Warcraft. Around the same time, Sony had begun its own studio consolidation program, merging multiple smaller teams into support squads for itself and The Last of Us developer Naughty Dog.
Of course, the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater franchise is an enduring and highly successful series, if one mired in its own ongoing corporate controversy. So never say never. Still, it seems that The Birdman may have taken his final flight, at least in the digital realm.
