Iron Galaxy, the studio behind the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 remakes, has announced it will be removing a cheeky reference to Guitar Hero found in the new Waterpark level. The team is also investigating how this nod to the classic rhythm game and the now-closed NeverSoft studio made it into the game.
The Waterpark is an original level created for these remakes and didn’t exist in the earlier games. Inside a bin on this map, players can spot a large box modeled after the Guitar Hero World Tour box art. However, the box in the game is for a fictional title called Banjo Hero. It’s a playful easter egg, but one that Iron Galaxy didn’t intend to leave in the final product.
On Reddit, the development team wrote, “We have the utmost respect for anyone who makes games, we’re investigating how that got in there in the first place. Thank you to the community for bringing this to our attention, and we’ll be removing that from the environment art in the next update.”
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The fictional studio named on the box, NeverSoft, was responsible for the original Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater games and some Guitar Hero titles. It later became a support studio for Call of Duty before closing in 2014.
Interestingly, some fans are pushing back on the removal. One commenter pointed out that easter eggs like this have been part of game culture for ages and argued that removing it would be disrespectful to the developers. The Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 remakes contain several nods to NeverSoft and the broader series, so the Banjo Hero box fits the tone of the game quite well. Some players might see it as a bit of playful ribbing, given the box’s placement in a bin, but most reactions online have been positive.
