Planned Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3 + 4 remasters were cancelled after developer merger

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"Vicarious got kind of absorbed, and then they were looking for other developers, and then it was over"

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 and 2
(Image credit: Activision)

Remasters of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4 were planned but scrapped after the series' developer was merged with Blizzard. 

With the success of the remastered Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2, the same virtual nip and tuck treatment seemed likely for the skateboarding series' third and fourth entries. But, sadly, this never happened. Now it's been revealed that remasters of Tony Hawks Pro Skater 3 + 4 were in the works, but the project was abandoned when Activision decided to merge Vicarious Visions with Blizzard. 

This comes from none other than the skateboarding legend himself, who revealed the news yesterday during a Twitch livestream with Andy Gentile. "That was the plan, even up until the release day of [Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2], we were going 3 + 4," explained Hawk. "And then Vicarious got kind of absorbed, and then they were looking for other developers, and then it was over."

According to Hawk, Activision "didn't really trust anyone" with the franchise in the same way it did Vicarious Visions. "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."

"I wish there was some way to bring it back", continues Hawk. But the star hasn't given up hope on new versions of Pro Skater 3 + 4 just yet. "I mean, who knows? Maybe when all the dust settles, we'll figure it out. You never know. I would never have imagined we were going to do 1 + 2 20 years later."

In our Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 review, we describe the remastered collection as "a nostalgic love letter to some of the best skateboarding games ever made and an exhilarating reminder that Tony could still have plenty more to offer than just trips back to the past."

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Anne-Marie Ostler
Anne-Marie Ostler
Freelance Writer

Originally from Ireland, I moved to the UK in 2014 to pursue a Games Journalism and PR degree at Staffordshire University. Following that, I've freelanced for GamesMaster, Games TM, Official PlayStation Magazine and, more recently, Play and GamesRadar+. My love of gaming sprang from successfully defeating that first Goomba in Super Mario Bros on the NES. These days, PlayStation is my jam. When not gaming or writing, I can usually be found scouring the internet for anything Tomb Raider related to add to my out of control memorabilia collection.