EA’s Skate reboot mixes classic gameplay with a questionable live-service model

It’s hard to believe 15 years have passed since the last Skate game. Entire franchises have come and gone in that time, but finally, we’re on the verge of a new entry, and well, it’s a bit different from what fans had been clamoring for.

The new Skate is a free-to-play title with live-service systems baked into its very core. Select challenges rotate daily, seasons will introduce new tricks, and the map is set to change a great deal in the months after launch. Loot boxes permeate it all, and devs clearly have aspirations of it becoming the next Roblox or Fortnite. Not just a game, but a platform.

That’s the message they emphasized during a recent Q&A Dexerto attended, one that left me all too disheartened. Hearing the corporate jargon that “Skate is more than a game, it’s a place for friends to hang out,” rubbed me the wrong way.

There’s a great deal I would change about this reboot if I were in control. Suffice to say, it’s far from perfect.

But when the talking stopped and I actually got stuck into the game for myself, much of my consternation went away. Skate is still Skate. It’s an absolute blast to play for hours on end, and even with this live-service approach, the game unshackles you to do just that.

There are no restrictions, no nonsense getting in the way. Just an awesome open-world to skate around and plenty of fun to be had. Better yet, it’s entirely free, so if you don’t like it, nothing is forcing you to stick around.

Skate is still Skate

As for what you’re actually doing in the new skate, it’s mostly the same as before. While there’s not much in the way of a narrative in this Early Access build, the game pushes you through a series of challenges that effectively show you the ropes.

How to grind, how to hippy jump, it’s all there as you reacclimate with the classic control scheme that feels just as fresh today as it did all those years ago.

The challenges vary in unique ways, too. You’ve got spots to own and sessions to master, but all of it can be tweaked to varying degrees thanks to the new on-the-spot map editor.

Say you’re struggling to get a certain score on a trickier spot. Well, now you can just open the editor, pop a kicker ramp down, and have at it. To a degree, it morphs the experience into a bit of a puzzler as you figure out the best solution to the problem at hand, and it’s a ton of fun.

Then comes the Hall of Meat. Yes, it returns here in the new skate, but not in name. Gone are the brutal bone-snapping X-rays as you plummet from 100 meters overhead. It’s much more reserved this time around, but there are still fun tasks that revolve around ragdolling.

In some, you might be placed on a rooftop and asked to crash down through a narrow pipe on the ground. In another, you might be over a bridge and tasked with flying between the posts. They’re all good fun as you’d expect and offer a nice breather from the on-board action.

It’s with these challenges that the live-service model actually proves beneficial, at least in my eyes. While most of these tasks are permanent, some only appear for a limited time. What this means is that effectively, every day you log in, there’s something different waiting for you. You’ll always have new challenges when you boot up the game, so there’s always something to help push you forward.

Of course, those are the structured experiences, but there’s far more to the overall package. At the press of a button you can set up a challenge with others online. Find a spot, name the task, and instantly have others line up to compete.

And above all else, sometimes it’s just awesome to avoid all of the markers on the map and do your own thing. Maybe that’s cruising around the city streets, maybe it’s hanging out at a park, perhaps you want to make an old-school montage, lining up spots, hitting the replay button, and nailing the vibe.

It’s all a blast and in large part thanks to the fact San Van might be the best map in franchise history.

Is a live-service model right for Skate?

Now, we’ve spent a bit of time highlighting all the positives. Let’s dive into the negatives, of which there are a fair few. The new Skate IS a live-service game through and through. The developers want you and your friends to hang out in this world for years to come; that’s their primary focus.

“This isn’t just a game. It’s a journey we’re taking together. Skate is not just a game, but a new home for skaters.”

That’s the messaging devs were pushing throughout the Q&A, and they come from veteran developers who have been with the franchise since the very beginning.

With that in mind, it’s clear they’re trying to take Skate beyond the traditional ‘game’, and make it into more of a platform. A hub where players return for years on end. Day one is just the beginning, and that’s what has me a little concerned.

New content is set to be drip-fed as part of seasonal updates, but it’s not only the content you’d expect to find. Here, it means just about everything that’s core to the experience. Season 2 is set to introduce new tricks, for instance.

But it gets even more significant when it comes to the open world and how that’s impacted season by season. The map is set to rotate content in and out. It’s not purely additive, with a new park being added on, for instance, but existing content will be removed to make room for new arrivals.

During the Q&A, I asked them directly about the extent of these map changes and a dev replied saying nothing is off limits. To me, that came across in a more threatening tone than anything.

We’ll obviously have to wait and see how it all pans out, but there is every chance the live-service model proves to be a detriment to Skate in the long run due to the notion of rotating content rather than simply adding on.

But for now, in its initial Early Access form, there’s no denying the new Skate absolutely nails the fundamentals. It’s a genuine treat to play, and that old-school magic is well and truly intact when you’re in a flow state. I’m cautiously optimistic for the future of the series.