Tony Hawk: Ride won't be an Xbox 360 exclusive in the UK

Posted by Al Warmington on Thu 21 May 2009

Activision snafu causes wave of upset

Tony Hawk fans were left confused and a little upset yesterday when it was suddenly announced that the upcoming series reboot, Tony Hawk: Ride, would be an Xbox 360 exclusive in the UK.

Normally, when it comes to any Tony Hawk game made since 2001, it would be a cause of upset so much as utter disinterest. Until last week, that once great series appeared to have been plundered of all its originality and creativity. However, Tony Hawk: Ride is different. It’s coming with a brand new peripheral that could do for the skate games what Guitar Hero did for the music games.

The initial announcement stated that the game was due to launch on PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii – which makes sense, given how recognisable the Tony Hawk brand name is. Yesterday, however, it was widely reported that instead of getting the full complement of game versions, the UK would only be allowed to buy the Xbox 360 version.

The source of this report was an Activision press release, which stated clear as day: "Further to Monday's announcement regarding Tony Hawk: RIDE, Activision UK is pleased to announce that this title will be launched later this year in the UK, as an Xbox 360 platform exclusive.”

Naturally, that didn’t go down particularly well with skateboarding fans who happen to own either a PS3 or Wii. Exclusivity for games like Halo and Killzone is one thing, but when you’re being denied something that’s readily available in other countries (small backwater places, such as US, Europe, etc), it doesn’t fill you with warm fuzzy feelings.

However, Activision has since issued a retraction of its original “erroneous” statement, clarifying that Tony Hawk: Ride will definitely be reaching all three console platforms, whenever it launches. Further info is coming at E3 time.

There’s still a lingering possibility of there being a timed exclusive for Microsoft’s console (why else might such a slip have happened in the first place?), but if it’s due to launch this year, our guess is Activision won’t miss the lucrative Christmas window for the other platforms.

We’ll be keeping our eyes peeled at the upcoming E3 event for any further details. Watch this space.

Link: Activision (via VG247)