More Tony Hawk remakes were planned, but then shelved
The project was canned after the consolidation of studios.
For those with fingers crossed that the third and fourth instalments of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater might get a remake, there's bad news. According to Tony Hawk himself, speaking on a Twitch livestream, remakes for both were still planned as late as the release date of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2, but due to the merging of remake studio Vicarious Visions with Blizzard, the project was shelved.
“That was the plan," Hawk said during the livestream, when discussing the possibility of further instalments or remakes. "Even up until the release day of this [the remakes of 1 and 2], we were going 3 and 4. Then Vicarious got absorbed, and then they were looking for other developers. And then it was over.”
Once Vicarious Visions was out of the picture, Activision tried to recruit another studio to work on the remake projects. “[Activision] were trying to find somebody to do 3 and 4 but they just didn’t really trust anyone the way they [trusted] Vicarious," Hawk said. "So they took other pitches from other studios: ‘What would you do with the THPS title?’ And they didn’t like anything they heard, and then that was it.”
If that's sad for Tony Hawk enthusiasts, Tony Hawk himself doesn't sound too pleased, either. "I wish there was some way to bring it back," he said, adding that maybe "when the dust settles we'll figure it out."
Released in 2020, the remakes of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2 were a roaring success, to the extent that more instalments—whether more remakes or a whole new game—seemed inevitable. That was compounded by the drummer for CKY confirming last year that the band would appear on a forthcoming Tony Hawk soundtrack.
Shortly after the Tony Hawk 1+2 remake shipped, Vicarious Visions was merged into Blizzard Entertainment. All staff moved into roles that were "fully dedicated to existing Blizzard games and initiatives."