If you’ve been hanging around skate parks or gaming forums for the last few years, you’ve probably heard a dozen different rumors about when Tony Hawk 3 and 4 release in their shiny, remastered forms. It has been a wild ride. Honestly, for a long time, it looked like the project was dead in the water. We all remember the high of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 back in 2020—it was perfect. It felt like time travel. Naturally, we assumed the next two legendary entries were right around the corner.
Then, things got weird. Activision did what Activision does, shuffling studios around like a deck of cards. Vicarious Visions, the team that basically saved the franchise with the first remake, got swallowed up by the Blizzard side of the company to work on Diablo. Tony himself even went on a Twitch stream and admitted the 3 + 4 project was basically canceled because they couldn't find a developer they trusted as much as VV.
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But that wasn't the end.
The Long Wait for the Tony Hawk 3 and 4 Release
After years of radio silence and fan petitions, the gears finally started turning again under the Microsoft era. Tony Hawk 3 and 4 release dates finally became reality on July 11, 2025. If you’re reading this now, the game is out, but the journey to get here was arguably as stressful as landing a 900 on a Mega Ramp. Iron Galaxy took over the reins, and while they aren't Vicarious Visions, they managed to stitch together the two games into a single, massive package.
It wasn't a shadow drop, though people really hoped it would be during the 2025 Xbox Showcase. Instead, we got a slow burn of teasers, including some very strange hidden clues inside Call of Duty.
The release covered everything: PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC, and even a day-one launch on Game Pass. Interestingly, the Nintendo Switch 2 version followed just a few months later, making it one of the early "must-have" titles for that hardware. If you’re looking for the original 2000s versions, those came out back in October 2001 and October 2002 respectively, but the 2025 remake is what everyone is actually hunting for now.
What Changed in the Remake?
People were genuinely worried about Pro Skater 4. If you remember the original, it was the first one to ditch the two-minute timer in favor of a "free roam" career mode where you talked to NPCs to get goals. It was a massive shift for the series.
Well, Iron Galaxy made a controversial call.
They decided to "streamline" the experience to match the first three games. This means the Tony Hawk 3 and 4 release we have now actually forces a timer onto those THPS 4 maps. For some of us who loved skating around Alcatraz or the Zoo without a clock ticking down, it felt a little bit like a step backward. But honestly? The 4K visuals and the way the physics feel—especially with the reverts and manuals being so tight—makes it hard to stay mad for long.
- The Foundry Demo: Those who pre-ordered got a taste in June 2025.
- New Skaters: We got modern icons like Tyshawn Jones and even Olympic skaters like Margielyn Didal.
- The Soundtrack: It’s a mix of the old bangers and some new stuff. They even kept the CKY and AC/DC tracks that people were worried might get cut due to licensing.
Why the 2026 Perspective Matters
Looking back at it from early 2026, the game has settled into its own. The initial "this isn't as good as the first remake" talk has mostly died down because, at the end of the day, it's more Tony Hawk. And in a world where the new Skate game is taking a more realistic, free-to-play route, having that arcade-style "shred-till-you-bleed" gameplay is a breath of fresh air.
One of the coolest things to come out of the post-launch support was the inclusion of the Doom Slayer as a playable skater. It’s ridiculous. Seeing a space marine in full armor doing a kickflip over a cruise ship is exactly the kind of "stupid fun" the series was built on.
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How to Get the Best Experience Now
If you are just now jumping into the Tony Hawk 3 and 4 release in 2026, you've actually timed it well. Most of the weird launch bugs have been patched out. The online multiplayer, which was a bit shaky in July 2025, is now pretty stable, and the "Create-A-Park" community has already uploaded some insane recreations of levels from Underground and American Wasteland.
Actionable Next Steps:
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- Check Game Pass: If you're on Xbox or PC, don't buy it full price; it's still currently sitting in the library.
- Focus on the Stat Points: Don't just rush the goals. In the THPS 4 portion, the stat point placement is way different than the original, so exploration is actually rewarded more than you'd think.
- Download the "Classic 4" Mod: If you’re on PC and hate the timers, the community has already released a mod that mimics the original NPC-based goal system for the fourth game's levels.
The Tony Hawk 3 and 4 release might not have been the "perfect" remake we imagined back in 2020, but it’s the one we got, and it's a hell of a lot better than the series being left to rot in Activision’s basement.