Xbox Drops Tony Hawk 1+2 from Game Pass Lineup
▼ Summary
– Microsoft removed Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 from its upcoming Xbox Game Pass lineup, with no explanation given for the decision.
– The game was originally listed to join Game Pass Ultimate, Premium, and PC Game Pass on July 21.
– Xbox acquired the game’s publisher Activision in 2023, giving it ownership of the IP and theoretical ability to release the game on Game Pass.
– Possible reasons for removal include expired music or sponsor licensing, which could force the game to be pulled from the Xbox store.
– The game’s sequel, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3+4, was added to Game Pass on its release day in July 2025.
Microsoft has unexpectedly pulled Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 from its upcoming Xbox Game Pass lineup, leaving subscribers without an official explanation.
Just last week, the company announced its latest wave of titles set to join the service, which included the full 1.0 release of Palworld, the day-one addition Ascend to Zero, and Gears of War: Reloaded for Game Pass Premium. According to the original Xbox Wire blog post, the Tony Hawk remake was scheduled to arrive on Game Pass Ultimate, Game Pass Premium, and PC Game Pass on July 21.
That post has since been quietly updated. An editor’s note now states: “We’ve removed Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 from the list of titles coming soon to Game Pass.” No further reasoning was provided.
The decision is puzzling given Microsoft’s ownership of the game’s publisher, Activision, which it acquired in 2023. This means the company holds the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater IP and technically has full control over its distribution on Game Pass. In fact, the sequel, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3+4, launched directly onto Game Pass on its release day in July 2025.
One likely factor behind the removal is licensing. The original Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 is now nearly six years old, and older games in this franchise have historically faced challenges with expired music or sponsor agreements. If such licenses are set to lapse, the game could be pulled from digital storefronts entirely, making a Game Pass release impractical. Similar issues have previously forced Microsoft to remove titles like older Forza Horizon games from the service.
Originally released on PS4, Xbox One, and PC in September 2020, the remake later arrived on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Switch in 2021. VGC awarded it a perfect five-star score in its review, calling it “everything we could have hoped for.” The review praised the remake for preserving the original games’ satisfying gameplay while modernizing the visuals, free from what it described as “modern gaming’s more problematic trappings.”
(Source: Video Games Chronicle)
