Tony Hawk says Activision ‘scrapped a 3 + 4 remake’ following Vicarious Visions’ merger

A planned remake of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 and 4 was canned due to Activision Blizzard’s decision to absorb 1 + 2 developer Vicarious Visions.

That’s according to the pro skater himself, who claimed during a live stream on Monday that Activision had briefly taken pitches from other studios, but allegedly wasn’t happy with any of them.

“That was the plan, even up until the release date of [1 and 2],” Hawk said. “We were doing 3 and 4, and then Vicarious got kind of absorbed, and then they were looking for other developers, and then it was over.”

He added: “The truth of it is [Activision] were trying to find somebody to do 3 and 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 the THPS title?’ And they didn’t like anything they heard, and then that was it.

“Who knows? Maybe when the dust settles, we’ll figure it out. You never know. I never would’ve thought we were going to do 1 and 2 20 years later.”

Activision Blizzard announced in January 2021 that it planned to fold Vicarious Visions into Blizzard as a support team, and the merger became official in April of this year.

At the time, Activision Blizzard said the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 and Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy developer would no longer be creating games as a lead studio.

Going forward, the Vicarious Visions team of around 200 people will be employees of Blizzard and “fully dedicated to existing Blizzard games and initiatives,” Activision Blizzard said.

The veteran studio was formed over 30 years ago and has worked on dozens of titles, including Skylanders, Guitar Hero, Destiny and Call of Duty.

2020’s Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 – its most recent game and its last as a lead developer – received favourable reviews from critics and debuted as the fastest-selling entry in the franchise, selling one million copies within its first two weeks.

Further reading

Tony Hawk studio Vicarious Visions is no more as it completes merger with Blizzard

The studio is now called Blizzard Albany

2017’s Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy was an even bigger success with 10 million copies sold in its first two years.

VGC’s Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 review said of the game: “Vicarious Visions has delivered a superb remake of two iconic games without letting modern gaming’s vices get in the way.”