After Activision officially merged Vicarious Visions into Blizzard, the New York-based studio had its hands full with Diablo II: Resurrected almost immediately. As it turns out though, there is an alternative universe out there where Vicarious Visions did not get merged. In this reality, Vicarious got a chance to work on Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4, as revealed by the series’ namesake during a Twitch livestream with Andy Gentile, who was one of the senior designers of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2. According to Hawk, the plan was always to go “3+4” after the release of THPS1+2, but all the plans went down the drain as soon as Vicarious got “absorbed.” If it’s any consolation, it’s not like Activision Blizzard killed the series. Hawk explained that Activision did try and ask around to see if anyone wanted to take over the project after the Vicarious merge. Ultimately, Activision passed on other studio pitches because “they didn’t like anything they heard.” Hawk ended his statement about the future of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater remakes by hinting that he’s not closing the doors on future attempts. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3+4 remake would have satisfied skaters who’ve spent the past year or two playing Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2. Unfortunately, it might never happen at all. The good news here is that EA is trying to fill the void with Skate 4. The initial gameplay leak might not have made a good impression, but we’re hoping that EA was taking notes so that it could release a much better product down the line.
