A year ago, on July 11, 2025, Iron Galaxy delivered something fans had wanted for five years: Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4. Getting there wasn't easy. Microsoft's acquisition of Activision made the project even more complicated. Now that this excellent collection is finally available on Nintendo Switch 2, PS5, and Xbox, I can't help but wonder if more remasters are on the way. I'm not the only one hoping for a Tony Hawk's Underground remaster, but despite my ongoing supply of copium, I'm starting to accept that it probably isn't going to happen.
Let's rewind the clocks a bit. Following the launch of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2 in 2020, Activision was ready to go full steam ahead on further remakes. In a breakdown of the game's development from gaming historian Liam Robertson, he claims that Vicarious Visions had intended to work on the first four titles. An anonymous developer from Robertson's findings said that "we settled on adding some handling features from the later games to reflect the way people remember the old Tony Hawk's Pro Skater games. The improvements from 3 seemed to bleed into people's memories of the first 2 [games]."
However, Vicarious Visions would become part of Activision Blizzard in 2022, putting the series's future on hold. Despite positive affirmations from Hawk himself that the series might return someday, it was nothing but radio silence for years. In March 2025, following weeks of mysterious teases, Iron Galaxy announced it had been working on the long-awaited THPS 3+4 remaster. The rest is history, but if you didn't get around to playing it, you can read my 8/10 Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3+4 Switch 2 review.
So where are we now? Well, it's complicated. Speaking to ScreenRant on the possibility of a THUG remaster, Hawk said that "I always have aspirations […] It's not up to me generally. I'll campaign all I can, but I'm working with a much bigger company that's a lot smarter than me." However, the biggest factor is that Iron Galaxy, like many studios in the industry right now, faced a considerable number of layoffs, with over 60 terminations across the studio, including Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3+4's lead level designer.
Since then, the studio has been busy with its usual bread and butter, porting new Switch games or other titles to different platforms. More recently, you'll see the studio's work on the upcoming Call of Duty ports for the first two Black Ops entries. THPS 3+4 got off to a strong start at launch, reaching 1.2 million downloads during its first week, according to Alinea Analytics. Xbox users accounted for 69% of those downloads, thanks largely to the game's day-one launch on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.
Outside of Game Pass, the collection sold just over 100k copies across PlayStation and Steam, with more than 85% of those sales coming from PlayStation. Those sales generated an estimated $3.2 million in revenue.
While that's a lot of money by normal standards, it really isn't that much for the games industry. Comparatively, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2 shifted over one million copies in a week, becoming the fastest-selling entry in the series. As for THUG itself, it's a completely different beast when viewed along with the other games.
Ditching timers and the series' usual restrictions for an open-world, story-led experience, Underground is a far more ambitious remaster/remake to consider. Its tone, especially in THUG 2, is edgier and more crass than that of other Tony Hawk games. I struggle to see how Activision and Iron Galaxy would handle THUG 2 specifically, as so much of it hinges on the ridiculous antics of Bam Margera and other skating comrades. It's more of a Viva La Bam/Jackass-infused game than a Tony Hawk one.
Iron Galaxy made some controversial omissions in its time with the series, and I think those decisions would rear their head again, with the team repurposing entire levels in THPS 3+4 and leaving some out entirely, like Carnival. I'm still not happy that the baseball minigame was ousted from the Alcatraz level. It's fun little additions like this that give the Tony Hawk games their identity. To alter that DNA feels odd. I fear this is something that would plague an Underground remake.
There's also the aspect of licensing music, brands, and release forms for the game's roster of skaters. Music is a particular pain point for both Pro Skater collections, with some of the best tracks put on the sidelines. The lack of AC/DC's TNT in Pro Skater 4 is absolutely diabolical, to be honest. Aside from the difficulties of developing it and a drop in sales for THPS 3+4, is anyone actually interested in it?
It's easy for me to champion an Underground remake. It's a game I grew up with and have extremely deep, fond personal memories of. 22 years later, though, there's a new generation of skateboarding game fans that simply might not be that bothered. It pains me to say it, but I can't see an Underground remake collection happening. Maybe an entirely fresh entry, but it'd need to be pretty damn good considering how atrocious Ride, Shred, and Pro Skater 5 were.
Do you think it will happen? Be sure to let us know on the Pocket Tactics Discord server.