One of the most successful video game series emerged from a deal between Tony Hawk and Activision. However, the skateboard legend almost went for a different deal. In a video interview, he explained why he decided against it.
Yesterday, Monday, the 233rd episode was uploaded to the YouTube channel “The Diary Of A CEO”. Skateboard legend Tony Hawk was a guest this time. He spoke about his impressive career, talent, fame and other interesting topics.
The video game series “Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater” named after him was also a topic of conversation – at minute 57:27. Here he revealed right at the beginning: In addition to Activision, “another group” who was also working on a skateboard game had contacted him.
Too complex for the general public
Hawk then exchanged a little with those responsible. He quickly realized that this project was far more complex than the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater series.
“I realized that what they were trying to do was so much more. It was technically more difficult to play because they were trying to really emulate skating,” explains Tony Hawk.
The 54-year-old believed he understood her approach. However, skating wasn’t that popular at the time. That’s why Hawk preferred to have a game that also caters to non-skaters. They should be able to “just go and do tricks.”
Activision made it better
When the skateboarding star got a glimpse of Activision’s game a short time later, he was immediately sold: “When I saw what Activision had, they had a very early version of a skater who was doing tricks, the way he was moving , and for me it was intuitive, it was perfect. I immediately started playing it, I started doing tricks. It was almost like it was an extension of my body when I started doing that on screen with the skater. And something just felt right to me.”
If Activision hadn’t knocked on the door until two or three months later, it might have been too late. By then, according to his assessment, Hawk would have already signed another contract.
Finally, in 1999, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater was released for the PlayStation 1. It was the beginning of a long-term success story: 21 offshoots were released by 2018. A new edition of the first two parts followed in 2020.
Actually, parts three and four should also be modernized. However, Activision Blizzard decided to turn Vicarious Visions into a support studio.
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Incidentally, Tony Hawk decided to charge permanent royalties for the series instead of a one-time payment. The American describes this as “the best financial decision” of his life. Logical: The “Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater” franchise is said to have brought in a whopping 1.4 billion US dollars over the years.
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