The first game in the Skate series in 15 years finally has a release date for its Early Access phase: September 16 on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series consoles.
The good news (and possibly, the bad news as well) is that you can download and play for free because this new version of Skate is a live-service, free-to-play multiplayer title. Yes, that is a massive departure from what the first three games were.
It has taken a while to get to this point. The game was first revealed in 2020, when developer Black Circle had little to show. Since then, development has been slow, focusing a lot on community playtesting.
Set in the fictional city of San Vansterdam, the idea is that up to 100 players will be skating around on the same server, completing challenges, breaking bones and pulling off sick lines.
Thus far, based on what we’ve heard from the closed testing, the core skating seems pretty decent. The real question is how well the game will handle monetization. The microtransactions are said to be purely cosmetic, but the Skate games have always been relatively niche, and after 15 years, is it going to bring in a big enough audience to maintain itself via microtransactions? As a massive Skate fan who spent countless hours across all three original games, the idea of a free-to-play, live-service Skate game is bewildering. Like, who the hell came up with that?
Still, it’s free to try it out, so myself and my old Skate bud are gonna be firing it up and seeing if the ragdoll physics are up to par. Looking at the trailer, I’m not super hopeful about it, but there’s always a chance it’ll turn out decent in the end.
“Skate is not just a return, it’s a complete evolution of the franchise that’s built to last,” said Mike McCartney, the game’s Executive Producer. “Our goal with Skate is to capture the freedom, creative expression and community of skateboarding, and share it with as many people as possible. From day one, our priority has been to honor the legacy of the franchise while pushing it into a bold new future – one built in partnership with our players.”