Tony Hawk Series Changes Developer

Kris Erickson • Jan 12, 2009 • Comments ()

If you love something, let it go. That is the philosophy that developers at Neversoft have adopted when it comes to the Tony Hawk franchise. CEO Joel Jewett told journalists this weekend that after a decade of creating new installments in the popular skateboarding franchise, his studio is done with the series.

The rights to create skateboarding games branded with the Tony Hawk name will remain with the publisher, Activision, but responsibility for creating any new games will move to other studios. It is rumored that a brand new developer named Robomodo will pick up the next installment, after joining Activision in 2008 to work on an unnamed project.

The original Tony Hawk Pro Skater was released on the PS1 back in 1999. That release was quickly followed up by successful N64 and Dreamcast ports. The game quickly gained popularity and critical acclaim for its free-flowing approach to skating and addictive, combo-based gameplay. Players could perform a variety of different moves with each of the characters featured in the game across a series of interior and exterior terrains. The rest, as they say, is history.