 In early 1998, Activision approached small developer Neversoft to develop a skateboarding racing game, in order to capitalize on the growing popularity of the sport.The idea of a racing game was abandoned in development after Neversoft showed the adaptability of the control engine to various manoeuvers.To make the gameplay seem as real as possible, company founder Joel Jewett had a halfpipe built in his backyard and started skateboarding with his coworkers.