Yesterday marked the 25th anniversary of the original Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater game for PS1. A landmark extreme sports game that not only redefined the genre but transcended gaming’s then-niche audience, THPS became a mega-hit overnight and catapulted its starring man into the stratosphere (as well as the friends he brought along with him). While THPS has had ups and downs over the years, things were seemingly on track for an excellent revival after the wildly successful and brilliant Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 hit consoles and PC in 2020… then Activision Blizzard pulled an Activision Blizzard and restructured developer Vicarious Visions into a support team.
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After four years, though, it seems that the Hawkman has worked something out for the series. In a post on Instagram yesterday, Tony Hawk commemorated THPS’ anniversary and gave some excellent insight into what he hoped the game would achieve. While some of this isn’t new information (the solid Pretending I’m a Superman documentary has most of the same thoughts), there is a fun nugget at the end. Signing off and giving a shoutout to the now-defunct Neversoft Entertainment, Hawk writes:
“I’m not supposed to tease anything else about the future of the series, but there will be a future.”
Now, fans were expecting Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3+4 after how ridiculously great 1+2 did. It felt like the exact type of trajectory you would follow if you were business savvy and wanted to your company to make easy money. Everyone loves the original game, but 3 is where the series truly hit its stride and has been the blueprint and measuring stick for everything that came after. Does that mean 3+4 is finally on the table?
We could read into Hawk’s words however we want, but one thing is clear: something is coming. I sincerely doubt this will be yet another remake of 1+2, but we’re either in store for more remakes or THPS will come back with an actual new installment (THPS5 can stay in the trash). Either way, that would certainly be an excellent way to honor the impact that Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater has had for nearly three decades.
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Written by Peter Glagowski
Peter has been a freelance gaming and film critic for over seven years. His passion for Nintendo is only matched by the size of his collection.
