Status Roach Aug 21, 2025
Paywalled Article: Still Shredding – The Legacy Of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater by Brian Shea
Skateboarding and gaming have an intertwined history dating back to the ’80s, with titles like Skate or Die, Skate and Destroy, and 720° letting players live out their kickflip fantasies. But it wasn’t until 1999 that the most prominent skateboarder teamed up with Neversoft to …
Paywalled Article: Still Shredding – The Legacy Of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater by Brian Shea
Skateboarding and gaming have an intertwined history dating back to the ’80s, with titles like Skate or Die, Skate and Destroy, and 720° letting players live out their kickflip fantasies. But it wasn’t until 1999 that the most prominent skateboarder teamed up with Neversoft to produce some of the most critically acclaimed video games of all time. Together, they permanently changed both the genre and the sport.
Riding a late 1990s wave of popularity for extreme sports, a small team at developer Neversoft had been developing a free-flowing skateboarding title. Late in development, the studio signed popular skateboarder Tony Hawk to lend his name and likeness to the product. Hawk took the responsibility seriously, working closely with the development team to ensure the title accurately reflected the excitement of skateboarding.
“I think what set THPS apart was the mix of authenticity and fantastical fun,” Hawk says. “We weren’t trying to make a skateboarding simulator; we wanted the game to feel true to skate culture while also letting players get crazy with tricks and combos that seemed impossible in real life.”
Neversoft and Hawk sought to differentiate Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater from other skating games, so they signed and motion-captured real skaters, created levels based on iconic skating spots, and featured brands skaters use in real life. Being included in the game as a playable character proved enormous for the awareness of those lucky enough to be chosen.
That holds particularly true for Bob Burnquist, one of Hawk’s chief rivals and the only other skater in the popular demo ahead of the first game’s release. “To this day, I get people come up to me and say, ‘Hey Bob, I’ve always played with your character!’” Burnquist says. “That really took me to a different level.”
However, perhaps the touch of authenticity that has endured through the generations is the soundtracks. The games capitalized upon the large overlap between skate culture and music culture, elevating previously niche or unknown songs to a mainstream audience.
“The soundtrack became a way to share my love of music with a whole new audience, which was one of the most unexpected, but rewarding aspects of our success,” Hawk says. “It’s wild that the soundtrack ended up being as iconic as the gameplay, but I think that just shows how tightly music and skating are linked – we didn’t just want a skateboarding soundtrack, we wanted it to represent the culture.”
The first Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater arrived on PlayStation in 1999, earning a 92 out of 100 on the reviews aggregate site Metacritic. While the debut was a massive success, it only reached new levels with the sequels, which Neversoft and Activision decided to release annually following the overwhelming reception of the first game. The second and third entries are two of the highest-rated video games of all time, earning a 98 and 97 on Metacritic, respectively. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 4 did little to stop the series’ momentum, holding a 94 aggregate score.
Activision and Neversoft officially had a blockbuster franchise on their hands, and skaters and non-skaters alike took notice. “The Tony Hawk games brought skateboarding into so many families that don’t even skateboard,” skateboarder and TV personality Bam Margera says. “Every grandmom, mom, grandpa, and little kid has played this game, including me. I was missing flights over it.”
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater didn’t just change extreme sports gaming; it’s a rare instance where it transformed the sport on which the series was based. “It actually helped skateboarding progress,” skateboarder and guitarist Steve Caballero says. “It just blows me away when I see social media, and I see these skaters doing tricks I was just doing on a video game, and now they’re doing them in real life. Anything that adds to the sport or enhances it is a good thing. And I think that’s because of Tony’s video game; it’s really brought the attention to people all over the world.”
And with that increased attention, some were inspired by the games to pick up a board and try skating in real life, leading to further evolution. “Over the years, many fans have told me that they started skating because of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, and I’m proud of that legacy,” Hawk says. “Being part of something that helped connect people to the sport I love, and to the culture in general, has been one of the most unexpected and rewarding parts of my career. THPS changed my life in the best ways possible.”
This July, Activision and Iron Galaxy Studios will release Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4, remakes of two of the series’ most iconic titles. The popularity of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 in 2020 caused Activision to pursue the next set of games, working with Iron Galaxy after the 1 + 2 studio Vicarious Visions merged with Blizzard in 2022. According to Hawk, the trend of reviving the franchise may continue if 3 + 4 receives similar acclaim.
“Seeing how excited fans have been about Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2, and now Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4, has been surreal,” Hawk says. “And I’d love to see that momentum continue. It’s been amazing to reintroduce these games to OG fans while also connecting with a new generation of players. So, I will do my best to campaign for more remakes in the future.”
