It’s been a long road for the much-anticipated Skate reboot, but details have finally arrived as to when audiences can expect to play the game.
It’s worth bearing in mind that this is only for the Skate early access period, however. Details on when the full game will be released are still under wraps, but the game will be free-to-play, with cross-play enabled for the platforms that it’s debuting on.
Skate Release Date
The Skate reboot has been in production since being announced back in 2022, and enters early access on the 16th September for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
EA have confirmed that the game hasn’t abandoned the last generation of consoles.
What’s Included in Skate Early Access?
How will early access differ to the final game? This is yet to be made entirely clear, but in the case of most games, it usually just means that the version of the game isn’t final.
For example, much more content might be added for the full release, the gameplay mechanics might be fine-tuned and certain elements could be expanded or removed. For all intents and purposes, however, the early access of Skate, as with other games, provides players with the current and most up-to-date version of the game.
Connections to Past Skate Games
Whenever a series is rebooted, there’s naturally going to be two audiences – those familiar with the past of the franchise, and those who are being reached for the first time.
A successful reboot usually has to manage to appeal to both audiences. God of War (2018) did this by continuing the story but starting over in a new setting with a new style of gameplay. Without the narrative element, Skate’s approach to expanding its audience seems rooted in its free-to-play strategy, making itself as accessible as possible to everyone by removing initial payment barriers.
The new Skate ditches any offline, single-player component for a purely multiplayer experience that appears to be attempting to replicate the live-service model.
Skate Full Release
It’s not uncommon to see games thrive in early access, with Hades 2 being a prominent, recent example. However, many players might still feel inclined to hold off until then, especially if they feel as though they want their first experience of the game to be a full one.
The feedback and success of the early access window will likely determine the trajectory of the full release, but some hands-on previews have spoken positively of the experience, even if there’s uncertainty about how the live-service model will pan out over longer periods of time.
