Activision could be taking careful, calc💫ulated steps to freshen up the Tony Hawk franchise with a new initiative.

A Monday USA Today article said Activision is looking to put some spark back into the Neversoft-developed Tony Hawk skateboarding franchise, which has remained a reliable source of revenue for Activision but🔯 has grown long in the tooth sincಞe its late-90s debut.

Activision SVP Will Kassoy told the paper that the initiative to reinvent the franchise is dubbed ༺the "Tony Hawk Innovation Plan," but the exec didn't expand on a🦩ny details.

An Activision rep was also quiet about the plan in a Monday e-mail to Next Gen, saying the San Mateo, Calif.-based publisher had nothing else to add to Kassoy's statements.

The most ꦐrecent Tony Hawk game release, October's Tony Hawk's Proving Ground, received "mixed or average" game reviews, garnering a 72 percent overall from critics.

Ziff Davis's 1Up.com gave the game the harshest review with a 5.5/10, calling the game "...unpolished, unfocused and proves nothing more than the now undeniable fact that the series needs a serious makeover and a lengthy vacation." Those on the other end of the spectrum called it the be🃏st skating game available and a fine reinvention of the franchise.

EA released new competitor Skate in September, developed by EA Black Box, wh🌞ich garn🏅ered average reviews of 86 percent and achieved strong sales on new consoles.

Tonওy Hawk games have sold 30 million units in the past decade, according to the NPD Group.