After publisher Activision Blizzard and developer Vicarious Visions released the well-received remake Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2, speculation naturally arose that a 3 + 4 remake would come next. And according to legendary skater Tony Hawk himself, that was actually the plan — until the merger of Vicarious Visions into Blizzard cut those plans short.
In a livestream with andyTHPS, Hawk explained, “Even up until the release date of (Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2), we were going 3 and 4. And then Vicarious got kind of absorbed, and then (Activision was) looking for other developers, and then it was over.” Hawk went on to elaborate, “The truth of it is they were trying to find someone 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 heard, and then that was it.”
It was announced in January 2021 that Vicarious Visions was being fully absorbed into Blizzard, where they would collectively develop Diablo II: Resurrected. The merger was announced to be officially complete this past April. It’s disappointing and a little frustrating to confirm that Vicarious Visions intended to develop Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 prior to the decision to merge it into Blizzard, especially if Activision had no backup plan for how to continue the franchise without this team.
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4 remasters were in the works but they were scrapped after Vicarious Visions was merged into Blizzard. 😔
Source: Tony Hawk.https://t.co/84rlYDgvUQ pic.twitter.com/oWR70xTOYv
— KAMI (@Okami13_) June 20, 2022
