 This was reflected in the manpower Activision and Neversoft invested in the franchise, as the employees working on the game had risen from 12 for the first entry to 150 and there were significantly more skaters featured, who all received considerable royalties.With the 2003 release of the fifth entry in the series, "Underground", the developers used storytelling and exploration to distance their product from the plotless, task-based format of previous "Tony Hawk's" games, which led Neversoft president Joel Jewett to describe "Underground" as an adventure game.It follows the player character and his treacherous friend, Eric Sparrow, on their quest to become professional skateboarders.