In a move that surprised no one outside of those who are incredibly naïve and forgiving, Electronic Arts has somehow managed to once again land themselves in a bit of controversy, this time about its long-awaited next entry to the Skate series. As confirmed in a new video discussing the future of the series, EA has revealed the new entry as skate. Not Skate 4, as many have believed, but rather a new and unique entry that vastly differs from its well-received predecessors.
First up, skate (stylized with a period in the end) is a free-to-play live-service game, with players free to access the title across multiple platforms: PC, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Xbox Series. The team behind skate says that they are also currently exploring mobile, which is a great strategy to target the biggest gaming market. However, the words "free-to-play" have not had many good connotations these days, thanks to microtransactions and other aggressive monetization schemes that many free-to-play games have.
As evidenced by the YouTube video announcing skate’s free-to-play status, numerous commenters have voiced their displeasure and concern regarding EA’s decision. A fair number also noted that they were not surprised at all, given EA’s overall reputation in the gaming industry.
In the video, creative director Cuz Parry notes the reason why Full Circle, the developers, did not decide to go with Skate 4.
“It’s not Skate 4. And here’s the reason: This isn’t a sequel. It’s not a remake. It’s not a reboot, a prequel; it’s not any of that. It’s not a remake or a remaster, whatever ‘re’ you can do. This is it, it’s skate. We’re in this for the long haul. That means we’re not an iterative title. There won’t be a Skate 5 through 10. We won’t be pumping them out all the time. We’re going to do this.”
While it is still too early to tell if EA can somewhat placate the growing audience unrest with this new skate, it is a bit hard to not prepare for the worst given the publisher’s enduring image in the eyes of the gaming industry. That said, Apex Legends is a massive success for the publisher, so perhaps there may be hope for skate if EA can somehow make the game compelling enough for players to forget about its free-to-play status.
You can become a skate Insider by partaking in early tests here.
