Update 22/2: Clearing up any potential doubt that the my mysterious countdown timer embedded in a new Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 map was anything other than a Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater-related tease, the official THPS website has also now been updated to include the same timer.
The timer counts down to March 4th, or around 10 days from the time of writing, so we’ll know soon enough what this has all been about.
After a bit of a rough period, the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater franchise managed something of a successful comeback—a 180, if you will—with 2020’s Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2.
The title packaged remastered/remade versions of the first two games in the franchise, complete with overhauled visuals, improved controls and skating mechanics, a mix of new and nostalgic songs, an updated roster and plenty more, and garnered a pretty positive reception.
Following the success of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2, fans have naturally wanted to see that treatment continue into later games in the series. We’ve had teases in the past, including Hawk himself confirming that a Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 game was in development at at least one point in time, but later canned, and skater Tyshawn Jones very recently claiming that another Tony Hawk “remastering” is on the way (via the Breakfast Club podcast).
But the biggest tease yet, and the most reliable, comes from Activision itself, which has seemingly embedded a reference to an upcoming announcement within the latest map update for Call of Duty: Black Ops 6.
In a newly-minted version of the classic Black Ops 2 map, Grind, players can spot a huge advertising panel that features an unmistakable logo design and a date — 03.04.25. Now, putting into practice what we know about Americans and their nonsensical date format, this means that the date being teased is March 4th, 2025. You can see a screenshot in the post from Charlie Intel below, which the Birdman himself has responded to:
A new Tony Hawk game announcement incoming on March 4!
— Charlie Intel (@charlieintel.bsky.social) 2025-02-20T17:41:11.357Z
What’s actually coming on March 4th, whether it’s a new game or remake announcement, a shadow drop or the monkey paw version of events with something like a new mode in Black Ops 6, remains to be seen, but there’s certainly some exciting potential here.
Vicarious Visions, which developed the THPS 1 + 2 remaster, was folded into Blizzard a couple years back and rebadged as Blizzard Albany to act as a support studio for Diablo releases, so it’s unclear if its involved in whatever this announcement is.
What do you think this might mean? Would you play a THPS 3 + 4 remake? Let us know in the comments below or on social media.
Kieron's been gaming ever since he could first speak the words "Blast Processing" and hasn't lost his love for platformers and JRPGs since. A connoisseur of avant-garde indie experiences and underground cult classics, Kieron is a devout worshipper at the churches of Double Fine and Annapurna Interactive, to drop just a couple of names.
