's made a lot of bad choices over the years, but few of them sting more for me personally than its decision to merge remake studio Vicarious Visions with Blizzard, killing plans for future with the stroke of a pen.
But there might be some justice in the world, because the Hawk himself has been dropping hints that the series isn't as dead as it might seem. In a chat with (via )—in between bites of an enormous mesa of Chinese chicken salad—Hawk dropped that he's apparently been back in touch with Activision recently. What's more, there's something cooking.
"I wish I could tell you more," said Hawk, "but I can tell you that I have been talking to Activision again, which is insanely exciting. We're working on something. This is the first time I've said that publicly." Unfortunately, and predictably, that's pretty much all he can spill for now, although he reckons the final product will be "something fans will truly appreciate."
Which, first of all, is precisely the kind of thing you'd say in this situation, although it would have been funny for Hawk to say 'I reckon fans will hate this one,' so we probably can't infer too much from that statement. Nevertheless, you've gotta think the odds are good that those remakes of THPS 3 + 4 are back on the table now Activision is safely ensconced in the Microsoft bosom, right? And fans sure as hell would appreciate that.
Those games were planned as late as the release date of the THPS 1 + 2 remake—September 2020—and if I were a big ol' game company looking to revive a franchise, I'd [[link]] probably dust off plans I already had rather than start up a whole new thing.
But that's just speculation on my part. We won't know for certain until Activision deigns to tell us about it or Hawk has another [[link]] truth-compelling salad. Consider me rapt and ready to hear more, though. The first remakes scored a healthy 86% in Justin Towell's , drawing particular praise for its "fantastic score system, impeccable level design, improved visuals, exemplary online mode and local multiplayer." I'll take more of that whenever it's on offer.