Tony Hawk’s been skating professionally for more than 40 years, and he doesn’t mind his fans being nostalgic for earlier parts of his career. If those fans want more remasters and remakes of past Tony Hawk games, including Tony Hawk’s Underground, he’s more than happy to give them what they want — if it’s within his power.
But he wants to give them more than just fond memories repackaged, he said in a recent interview with Polygon.
The “nostalgia factor” of the classic Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater games, reproduced with new technology, is the most important component of what makes a good Tony Hawk-endorsed game in 2025, he said. “To update it not just to celebrate the origins, and the original characters, but to update it with newer characters, new tricks, and in this case new levels, that’s the most exciting factor for me,” Hawk said. “Yes, we want to do the ‘Best of THPS 3 and 4,’ but add something new to take it to a different realm.”
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 and 4, the next-in-line remaster from Activision and developer Iron Galaxy, is out July 11, but that’s not actually the primary reason I’m talking to Hawk. He’s currently being nostalgic for another project from the past: his work for cereal giant Kellogg’s.
In the early ’90s, Hawk served as the stunt double for Frosted Flakes mascot Tony the Tiger in a television commercial, and the two Tonys are reuniting for a new collab. Tony the Tiger cosmetic gear will appear in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 and 4. Hawk is surprisingly sentimental about that commercial opportunity.
“When I did that, it was just a huge honor for me,” he said. Cause “I have literally been a fan of Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes since I was little, since I was able to eat on my own and choose my own breakfast [laughs]. So in that moment it was a big deal for me. When you see that commercial you can tell it’s me skating; you can tell from the style. Even back then, in the 1990s, skating was on the downslide of popularity, so I didn’t imagine that I’d even be able to skate going into my 30s or 40s, especially doing it for a living, so to have a collaboration that involves our video game, it is surreal. I’m so thankful that they reached out to me.”
Hawk will reunite, digitally, with two more friends in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 and 4. One of them is fellow skater Bam Margera, who appeared in the original THPS 3 and 4, and was at one point not confirmed to appear in the remasters. But Hawk reportedly called in a favor, pushing to get Margera into the game.
“I’m not a dictator in terms of how the game is run, but I did connect with [Bam] recently and he’s in a really good place and skating a lot,” Hawk said. “He just seems highly motivated and I felt like we should bring that energy back to the game. It was all very last-minute, I will say that. I’m thankful that he was agreeable and that Activision was into it. He got scanned in record time [laughs].”
The other person returning in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 and 4 is Constable Richard, the British counterpart of Pro Skater’s Officer Dick, who is voiced by and modeled after Jack Black. Tony the Tiger aside, Richard’s “the most exciting character” to appear in 3 and 4, Hawk says.
With Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 and 4 on the verge of release, and after talking a lot about old things, I asked Hawk what’s next for the Pro Skater franchise. Ever the professional, he demurred.
“That, ultimately, will be decided by Activision. But in terms of where it goes, I would lean heavily on what the fans want,” he said. “This is for the fans. I hear a lot of noise about people wanting Underground remakes and remasters, and in the chronology of the game, that’s where we would go next. I would love to see that. I don’t really know if we’ll get to do it again. We’re on the precipice of the new release, so we’ll see.”
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 and 4 will be released on Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X on July 11.
