A quick look at any post on EA’s Instagram account will reveal countless comments from fans asking if and when Skate 4 will be announced. The original developer of the franchise, Black Box Games, has been shut down since 2013, so Skate 4 is highly unlikely. That’s where Session comes in.
Session is a simulation skateboarding game currently raising funds on Kickstarter (and has already surpassed its original goal with more than three weeks left to go). Montreal-based crea-ture Studios may only consist of two people right now, but they have over 30 years of combined industry experience, working on everything from mobile to AAA development. Marc-Andre Houde, the creative and art director for Session, talked to Player.One about the project, as well as the challenges and opportunities of using crowdfunding to develop a game.
“The biggest changer for Session are the controls. We are bringing something new,” Houde told Player.One. “We’re expanding on what Skate did, but make it even more realistic. We’ve split the thumb sticks up to represent feet, with the left stuck acting as the left foot and the right stick as the right foot. You mimic the motion of the skateboard tricks in real life.”
This is similar to the “flick it” control system of the Skate games, but taken to the next level. “To jump, you press down on the right stick to crouch, then press up on the left stick to ollie,” Houde explained. “From there, you can create cool variations, like pressing left to kickflip or right to heelflip. You can do quarter circles to do pop shuvits and line your board up for grinds.”
This hardcore control scheme does take getting used to, especially if you sit down expecting Session to play identically to Skate. The added difficulty is something Houde thinks will appeal to those who want an in-depth skating sim.
“I think people would be disappointed to hear there’s a mellow learning curve. It’s pretty hardcore. To us, it feels close to the learning curve from playing Skate for the first time,” said Houde. “I remember spending a good half an hour before feeling comfortable with the controls. We have something similar to that. I would say to the Skate gamers out there, it’s kind of a learning curve in two stages. The first is to break out of the Skate habits, and the second is to learn the new tricks.”
Session ’s development depends greatly on the success of the Kickstarter campaign, so many of the studio’s ideas remain in the planning stages. That includes the open world where skaters will practice their craft. However, Session’s huge level isn’t going to appear all at once. The team at crea-ture Studios plans to release level segments, and fine-tune them based on player feedback.
“We want to do an open-world concept, but will approach it differently,” said Houde. “We don’t want to work on a huge city world for years and find out that players only skate in a few small areas. We want to build the world along with the people. They will be able to try the new areas and we can get feedback.” The first level will be based on New York City, with Houde saying plans are to create realistic renditions of popular skating locations.
Session will definitely release on PC, and there’s already a demo you can download and play on the game’s Kickstarter page. From there, the team is considering other platforms, but again, Houde says money and time are major factors. “Right now, every door is open. We don’t want to just stick to one platform,” he said. “The target right now is PC because that’s what our budget would allow. It’s a controller-based game though, so playing with a keyboard would be too complex. The goal is to get it on consoles at some point, but it’s a matter of budget right now.”
There hasn’t been any talk of a release date, but crea-ture Studios plans to go the Early Access route, especially since that will help provide the most feedback from players. “We’re definitely interested in Early Access,” Houde said. “We think Session will fit in really well with that platform.”
Session’s Kickstarter campaign is now live, with the project aiming at stretch goals beyond initial funding. Check out the project for yourself, and be sure to try out the demo to get a feel for the control scheme. Just keep in mind that the demo represents a very early build, so you will likely encounter bugs and other issues.
So what do you think? Are you excited to see if Session can fill that Skate 4-shaped hole in your heart? What other franchises would you like to see get reborn like this? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
