Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 is coming to Xbox Series X/S and PS5 soon, but those who want to upgrade their last-gen copy may experience some headaches. It appears that those who own a physical copy of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 on Xbox One won't be able to upgrade to the Series X/S, but PS4 and PS5 owners can.
With Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2 receiving current-gen ports, many grew concerned that Activision would do force players to pay a fee to upgrade from last-gen versions - if not make them buy the game again outright. For Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, unlike many other studios, Activision opted to make a cross-gen bundle, which included two different versions of the game. That meant that when players put in a PS4 disc to the PS5, it just played the PS4 version with no option to upgrade it without spending some extra money.
According to the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 FAQ, Activision (thanks, The Gamer) seems to be repeating that mistake with the skating remakes' Xbox Series X/S physical upgrade. All standard digital versions will be upgradable for $10 on Xbox Series X/S and PS5, but Digital Deluxe owners on either platform will get the upgrade free of charge. However, Xbox One owners who picked up a physical version will apparently not be able to upgrade the game at all. Activision appears to have carefully left Xbox One physical edition owners out when it stated:
"To download or play on PlayStation 5, insert your Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 game disc into your PlayStation 5 and launch the game. You will need to keep your disc in your PlayStation 5 every time you wish to play," reads the FAQ.
Worse, many have held out hope that the success of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 could lead to more Tony Hawk remakes, but that seems unlikely. Developer Vicarious Visions has been restructured and sent to work on games with Blizzard. Whether or not another developer could step in and take over the franchise is unknown, yet it's improbable Activision would get rid of the team responsible for the series having a successful revival.
Perhaps if these new Tony Hawk's Pro Skater ports continue to sell and generate revenue for Activision, there's a possibility of the publisher having a change of heart. There hasn't been a brand-new entry in the series since the failed Pro Skater 5 in 2015 which briefly killed the series. Perhaps if there's enough demand, it'll be too hard for Activision to ignore. For now, though, Xbox One players that will have to shell out extra cash may find it more worthwhile to just sit it out or get Tony Hawk's Pro Skater on Nintendo Switch later in the year to get a more valuable (albeit downgraded) version with portability.
Next: Why Spider-Man Isn't In Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2
Source: Activision (via The Gamer)
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2 is available on PS4, Xbox One, and PC, and it will launch on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S on March 26 and Nintendo Switch in 2021.