Early Access Release?!

Let’s start with the “EA” elephant in the room. No, not “Electronic Arts”, but “Early Access”. Why the f**k was this not a full release? This is effectively the 4th instalment in the series, what’s there to test and crowdfund for? They’ve already made this game before! All they needed to do was release Skate 3 with updated graphics and no one would have noticed or complained.

Let me remind you, it’s been 15 years since Skate 3 was released. A game from 2010, that took 1 year to develop, has more heart and soul than Skate. can muster up in 3 to 5 years. And for those saying, “oh, but Unreal Engine 5 is hard, you try to develop a game in it then!” I don’t need to win MasterChef to know when my food is burnt.

A sequel to Skate 3 was first announced in 2020, and it was changed in 2022 to just be Skate. This is because companies are allergic to sequential naming. The game is then released into Early Access in late 2025. But, they still had a minimum of 3-5 years to work on the game beforehand.

Releasing into early access is just so off-putting. This isn’t an indie game studio or an original concept. Early access just seems like a way to justify spaghetti code and microtransactions. Speaking of Spaghetti coding however…

Glitches:

Did you know that if you do a manual and then emote at the right time, you can fly up into the skybox? Or that ditching your board and gaining momentum through the “Hall of Meat” style rolling is the fastest way to get around?

Now, Skate fans are no strangers to glitches. The glitches even add a lot of character to the games. What’s frustrating is that Skate. (2025) has these glitches that you would expect from an early or quickly developed project. Not a large studio with more time and money. The game is confirmed to have been in the works for 3 – 5 years at a minimum and it seems like it lacks even basic QA. I mean, it doesn’t take a genius to try to emote after doing a manual. Let’s be real, the players are their unpaid quality analysis team.

Graphics and Animations:

A complaint you might see online is that Skate. Looks like The Sims in terms of art style. The popular theory on this is that the textures lack the grittiness you would see in previous titles or even other skating games. The texture and detail on the terrain is very basic, which gives it a smoothed-over, cartoony feel. It does “look good” because it’s developed on Unreal Engine 5, but it’s simply missing some elements that would elevate it even further.

Another thing I couldn’t put my finger on, but definitely felt off, was the cruising animations. It clicked for me after seeing a side-by-side comparison. In Skate. your character acts as if balancing on a thin piece of wood with 4 wheels is just a minor inconvenience. In reality, it’s a precarious and highly athletic activity. The character model shows hardly any physicality which implies they aren’t yet using the game engine to the fullest extent. The technology to create a character model that moves fluidly with the board was available in 2009 and 2010. Therefore, it should be far improved by 2025.

Not Consumer or Skater Friendly:

This game represents over-commercialization of commodified counter-culture. That’s a lot of C-words. Basically, something that started as being punk and rebellious, is losing its soul in the pursuit of profit. I guess this statement could apply to gaming as a whole, not just this particular skateboarding game. Gaming also used to be an outcast or disrespected hobby before becoming one of the largest industries in the world. But this is a whole other can of worms to open.

Electronic Arts is obsessed with having Skate. Be a live service cash-cow that they can milk for years to come. You can feel it in every system. That’s why they got rid of the numerical naming, because a number implies a sequel at some point. Think about it, why is the game always online? Why is there no offline singleplayer? Because that would imply that you actually own the videogame. Wouldn’t that be silly? Instead, you are graciously granted access to their skateboarding simulation service – after waiting in a server queue of course – and you must actively use the product or you will be disconnected to make room for the next customer in line. 

There are no default customization options for clothing. Everything – even colors – must be unlocked via the progression. I know the game provides you a couple rags to slap on your character, but the content walling is so obvious. 

The missions and challenges in the game are also lackluster and feel super secondary to just free roaming, which is kind of a shame. Skate 3 had iconic challenges that showed off the potential of the map. Given how long this game has been in development, the “story mode” is pretty hollow. This implies that focus was put into other areas of the game, likely the in-game store and future microtransactions. 

Early Access Release…Again.

The saving grace here is that they are basically still developing the game. It might take time, but the game could still dominate the skateboarding genre. Hopefully by being fun and well-made, not just because it’s the only one available. I’ve expressed a lot of cynicism thus far, but it comes from a place of concern. I sincerely hope this game is successful and makes decisions for the better.

If I’ve missed anything or if you have any questions, let me know with a comment below.