It seems that the gamers’ love affairs with extreme sports titles might be running their course. Skateboarding games are no longer the sure fire success that they have been in the past. Electronic Arts head, John Riccitiello, seems to believe this, as well.

The battle between the Tony Hawk franchise at Activision and the Skate franchise at EA seems to be coming to an end. While it is clear that despite the best efforts of Activision the skateboard controller didn’t resonate with buyers, and sales of the normally strong Skate have apparently not been as strong as they were initially.

This has not stopped newcomers from joining the fray, however, with Ubisoft making a play for this market space with its recent release of the new Shaun White Skateboarding title. While the reviews of the title have been mixed, it is a sign that maybe not all publishers are ready to throw in the towel on Skateboarding titles.

While none of the three publishers have confirmed that their skateboarding franchises will be taking some time off, it does seem that at least some of these franchises will not return for a while. While many believe that the extreme sports titles need to dial back the realism and get back to the core of what made these titles great, we think (other than the rumors of a potential SSX revival title from Electronic Arts) it could be some time before the skateboard sports see new offerings.