Skateboarding legend Tony Hawk has opened up on the 'life-changing' money he earned through Activision's popular gaming series Pro Skater.
Activision launched Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater in 1999 for the PlayStation, earning widespread critical acclaim as well as becoming an instant classic with fans.
Neversoft's game was subsequently released on the Nintendo 64, Game Boy Color, Dreamcast, and mobile devices.
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Based on the reaction to the original, it made total sense to capitalise on the success of the first installment.
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 was released in 2000, followed by the even more popular Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 in 2001.
Activision's franchise continued to expand and in 2020, they released a remastered edition called Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2, bringing the iconic series back to life for a new generation of players.
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While the game was still in development, Hawk initially declined the offer from the publisher and developer when they proposed a one-time compensation of $500,000 for the use of his name and likeness for the original title.
Speaking to The Nine Club in 2018, Hawk revealed he was handed a staggering £3.7m ($4m) cheque from Activision after Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 4’s release in 2002.
“It was my annual royalty or whatever it was,” he said.
“I don’t want to downplay that... the video game changed my life," Birdman added.
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Hawk later revealed that Activision tried to buy him out of future royalties before the launch of Pro Skater.
Speaking on The Diary Of A CEO podcast in 2023, he said: “When they were close to launch of the game, they started to sense there was buzz about it.
“They knew they had a good game overall and they felt this surge of interest, and so they offered me a buyout of future royalties -- right before the game launched.”
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Hawk added: “Nowadays an entire generation of kids have asked me if I’m named after a video game.”
The Tony Hawk Pro Skater series has since brought in an estimated $1.4bn in sales for Activision across all of its titles.
Topics: Gaming
Tom Jenkins