On September 29, the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater series will turn 25 years old. Released in 1999 for the original PlayStation, the Pro Skater games would leave an everlasting mark on the video game industry and skateboarding culture. Not only would they create a long-lasting series for Activision, but they would also popularize extreme sports games, open the doors for the use of licensed music in games, and create an on-ramp to skating culture for a whole generation. Over the last 25 years, the series has gone through lots of ups and downs, with its most recent release being 2020’s Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2, a remaster of the first two games in the series.
Since then, it has been quiet on the Pro Skater front outside of a cameo in Astro Bot, but Activision is using its 25th anniversary to reassure fans that it recognizes the series’ importance. In an exclusive interview with Digital Trends, Activision Chief Operating Officer Josh Taub said that the company has “heard the demand” for more Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater and still considers the series one of its important core franchises in 2024.
“The Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater franchise is celebrating 25 years this month, and it remains an important core franchise for Activision today. The success of the franchise is a testament to its legacy and the community of players,” Taub tells Digital Trends.
Reflecting on the series for its 25th anniversary, it’s clear that it’s time for the series to make a comeback. While Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater hasn’t had the smoothest journey over the past 25 years, its undeniable impact proves why it should skate on.
Pro Skater takes off
Some of my earliest gaming memories are of watching my cousin play Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 on their PlayStation. I wouldn’t personally own any Tony Hawk games until Tony Hawk’s Project 8 in 2006, but by then, I had played plenty of the games at friends’ houses. While my parents banned me from skateboarding growing up, I have plenty of childhood friends who loved skateboarding and started doing so because of Pro Skater.
Taub says Pro Skater 2 is still his favorite entry in the series because “it struck the perfect balance between innovation and refinement.” He cited its introduction of the manual, which let players chain combos together, and “exceptional” level design as particular standouts.
“It’s a rare example of a sequel that didn’t just build on its predecessor, but redefined the genre, setting a benchmark many games have aspired to since,” Taub says.
We all have a different story of how we first discovered Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater or the other Tony Hawk video games and extreme sports clones that spun off from it. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater is the rare game series that broke out and had a mainstream cultural impact. Taub repeatedly stresses the series’ “broad appeal” and how it “brought skateboarding to a mainstream global audience” with engaging and approachable gameplay. Taub even went as far as crediting the series as the catalyst for skateboarding finally coming to the Olympic Games, making it keenly aware that Activision recognizes the impact that this series can have.
“The impact of the franchise really goes well beyond video games now, though, and I think a pretty good example of that is the inclusion of skateboarding in the 2020 and 2024 Olympic Games. I’d like to think that Tony Hawk and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater were the catalysts that sparked interest in skateboarding on a global scale, making it possible for incredible pro athletes to share their talent on the world’s stage.”
From Pro Skater 5 to Pro Skater 1+2
A series that has been around as long as Pro Skater has seen its ups and downs. Four games in, Tony Hawk games dropped the Pro Skater moniker and started to get way more experimental with the open-world exploration of Tony Hawk’s Underground and the gimmicky peripherals of Tony Hawk’s Ride. Still, many of these games captured some sort of audience; I still enjoy Project 8 even though it’s considered a lesser game in the series.
Pro Skater’s true low point came in October 2015, when Activision released Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5 to disastrous results. Pro Skater 5 is widely considered the worst game with the Pro Skater moniker due to its general lack of polish, odd art style, and poor game feel. That reception isn’t lost on Activision.
“What’s really important is that our games always pushed the envelope in terms of innovation and set a high standard for quality,” Taub says. “Unfortunately, we fell short with Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5, and that experience definitely taught us some important lessons. One of the biggest takeaways was the importance of taking time with development and making sure our vision aligns with the expectations of our fans. As a result, we overhauled our development processes at the time to ensure that all our games receive the time and attention they need, which includes quality control, polish, testing, and general quality of life standards.”
The Pro Skater series would enter its longest gap between releases, five years, after Pro Skater 5. But then, as part of Activision’s push toward remasters and remakes later in the decade, Vicarious Visions got the chance to bring the series back with Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2. Rather than experimenting with odd ideas or tacking on some odd peripheral, Vicarious Visions returned to what worked and garnered a warm reception.
Taub credits Activision’s learnings from the rocky launch of Pro Skater 5 with making Pro Skater 1+2 an even better game. He says that the team spent a lot of time rebuilding the game’s physics to make sure it felt just right and honored the originals.
“The biggest takeaway here is the importance of staying true to what made the original games so beloved while also making modern improvements that always push the boundaries of innovation,” Taub says. “The success of the game reaffirmed that respecting the past while embracing the future is critical when developing a game with such a large fan following.”
Pro Skater’s future
Activision boasts that Pro Skater 1+2 is the fastest-selling game in the entire series, as it sold over 1 million units within two weeks of launch. That’s why it’s surprising that Activision didn’t immediately pursue remakes of other games in the series or a brand new Pro Skater game afterward. According to previous comments from Tony Hawk and reporting from DidYouKnowGaming’s Liam Robertson, Vicarious Visions expressed interest in remaking further Pro Skater games.
Instead, Activision merged the Pro Skater 1+2 developer into Blizzard Entertainment and it now works on Diablo IV as Blizzard Albany. I asked Taub about the lack of any sort of announced follow-up to Pro Skater 1+2, such as a remake of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 and 4. He played his answer coy, but made it clear that Activision is listening to those wishes from fans.
“Well, you know, after the success of the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 remasters, we like to keep people guessing!” Taub says. “The truth is, we’re always evaluating what’s next and how we can bring the best experiences to fans. While we haven’t pursued more remakes yet, it’s not for lack of passion. But hey, never say never. We know how much love there is for the franchise, and we’ve definitely heard the demand.”
While the last PlayStation State of Play stream passed without any Pro Skater-related announcements, there seems to be hope for the series’ future. In a recent interview with Mythical Kitchen, Tony Hawk himself confirmed that he had been having conversations with Activision again.
“We don’t have anything to share yet other than to confirm that we are talking with Tony Hawk again. Stay tuned,” Taub responded when asked about Hawk’s tease.
After reflecting on Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater series for this important anniversary, I believe that it’s about time for it makes a comeback. This franchise is such a crucial piece of the historical and cultural impact of gaming and skateboarding that it deserves more active support than it has been getting. Although Activision didn’t immediately capitalize on the warm reception to Pro Skater 1+2, I hope Activision is listening as much as Taub implies. This milestone of an anniversary should be a chance to reprioritize Pro Skater as a major franchise for Activision.