Tony Hawk Was Living In His Car When He Was Offered $300k For THPS, Former Activision CEO Claims

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Back in the day, when I was just starting out as a gamer, I remember hearing about how Bobby Kotick, the former big boss at Activision Blizzard, approached skateboarding legend Tony Hawk with an offer. The year was tough on Tony, financially speaking, and Activision offered him a cool $300k to attach his name and face to the first Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater game – quite the deal!

During a conversation on the Grit podcast, Kotick stated that Hawk was experiencing financial hardship and was residing in his car at that moment, as he was going through his second divorce. Kotick explained that because of Hawk’s dire need for funds, they agreed to increase his royalty rate by an additional 1.5%, which they later adjusted as time passed.

In simpler terms, Kotick stated, “We created Pro Skater, it performed well, but Pro Skater 2 took things to a whole new level – it was phenomenal. And that’s when our business really took off.

In the year 2019, Hawk disclosed that Activision proposed a $500k payment for any future royalties he might earn, but he opted against it. However, his decision proved to be beneficial as he subsequently shared that he received four million dollars in royalty payments following the release of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 4.

1999 saw the debut of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater on the original PlayStation. A modern version, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2, was launched in 2020 for contemporary platforms. The latest major installment in the series was Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5 from 2015, which signaled the conclusion of Tony Hawk’s contract with Activision.

Despite rumors suggesting that new versions of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 and 4 aren’t being developed, Tony Hawk himself has announced that the series will carry on instead.

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2025-02-11 21:10