Today, Electronic Arts announced that skate would launch next year in early access. The fourth mainline installment in the extreme sports series is in development at Vancouver-based studio Full Circle and has already been playtested by 'tens of thousands' of PC gamers over the last couple of years. Console playtesting is set to begin this Fall.
Last we heard from the studio, they were making a series of changes based on the feedback gathered from playtesters:
We’ve done a ton of work rebuilding Flick-It, skate.'s core trick control system. We want to make sure every trick feels fun and satisfying, while delivering the familiarity from past Skate games. On top of that, we’ve improved accuracy and control to make learning tricks easier.
The team is also hard at work to give you the tools to have fun your way, by yourself or with friends, anywhere in San Vansterdam. Almost everything you do in the game will earn you rewards, so you can customize your character, setup, and even unlock new objects to place and skate in San Van.
Self-expression is what skateboarding’s all about, which is why we’re stoked to bring in as many character customization options as possible to skate. Body types, hair, clothes, your board setup (including stickers!) — you’ll be able to tweak and style to your heart’s content.
What we’re most excited about with skate. is that we’re building a game that can live, grow, and change with you for years to come. Everything you’ve heard about so far — the city, its story, the gear, music, game modes, and more — will evolve as we go from season to season.
The game will employ a free-to-play business model and also include crossplay functionality across all platforms (PC, Mac OS, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S|X, and mobile devices). It's going to be 'always-on', that is to say, a live service game persistently connected.
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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