Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 canceled after studio merges with Blizzard

By Cristina Alexander Published June 21, 2022

If you thought more Tony Hawk games would be remastered after the success of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 , those dreams wiped out a long time ago. The development of a Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 remake was reportedly canceled after Vicarious Visions merged with Blizzard .

This development came out of a chat between Twitch streamer AndyTHPS and none other than Tony Hawk during Monday night’s broadcast . The legendary skateboarder told the streamer that there were plans to remake Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 , but those plans fell through when Activision Blizzard decided to completely absorb Vicarious Visions in April, a process that had been in the works since the beginning of the year.

Recommended Videos

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

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

Hawk added that Activision Blizzard was trying to find different developers to make Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 , but it believed their pitches didn’t stick the landing as well as Vicarious’ idea for the remake did.

“So the truth of it is they were trying to find somebody to do 3 + 4 , but they didn’t trust anyone the way they did Vicarious. So they took pitches from other studios, like, ‘What would you do with this THPS title?’ And they didn’t like anything they heard, and that was it.”

Vicarious Visions released Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 released in June 2020 to critical acclaim from fans and journalists who grew up playing the original games. At the time of its release, they had no idea the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater games would be remastered, let alone remade. Then again, no one knew the Crash Bandicoot series would be remade with Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy in 2017, which is how Vicarious made its name known.

Cristina Alexander

Gaming/Mobile Writer

Cristina Alexander is a gaming and mobile writer at Digital Trends. She blends fair coverage of games industry topics that…

Topics

Gaming

Every confirmed skater in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4

Three skaters doing tricks in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4.

The original Tony Hawk games were full of secrets and Easter Eggs to find, including a ton of special characters to play as. The latest remake, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4, is bringing back nearly everything included in those original releases, alongside new levels, songs, and even skaters. While the character creator will let us put basically anyone we want into the game, it isn't quite good enough to recreate our favorite pro skaters as well as the developers can.
All confirmed skaters in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4

These are all the known skaters coming to Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4, including returning skaters, new skaters, and DLC characters. We will update this list as more are revealed.
Returning skaters

Gaming

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 is alive and it’s coming this summer

Tony Hawk jumps over a park in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4 will launch on July 11 (or July 8 if you pre-order its deluxe editions) for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, and PC. It will be available on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and Game Pass PC at launch. The remake package will include new skate parks for the first time in 10 years.

The five year road to the release has been long. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 launched in 2020 to critical acclaim, immediately fueling speculation for more remakes. Those dreams were squashed when developed Vicarious Visions was merged into Blizzard in 2021 and converted into a support studio. The next year, Tony Hawk himself claimed that remakes of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 and 4 were planned, but halted after the move.

Gaming

Something Tony Hawk Pro Skater-related is coming March 4

Skater in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2.

Tony Hawk Pro Skater fans have longed for a remaster of the third and fourth games ever since the success of the first two, but hopes were dashed in 2022 when the game was supposedly canceled — but now a countdown has appeared on the website that ends on March 4.

While the countdown could end with an announcement of the next game in the series, fans theorize it's actually the long-awaited remaster. The text "thps-3-4-countdown" was reportedly found in the website's backend code, but has since been removed according to VGC. The website lists Iron Galaxy as one of the developers — the same studio responsible for the Tony Hawk Pro Skater 1 + 2 remaster — furthering the evidence that the announcement will be a remaster instead of a sequel.