EA’s Skate reboot will require an online connection to play, its developer has confirmed while reaffirming a 2025 early access launch window.
Skate developer Full Circle has launched a new series of developer blogs, named The Grind. These blogs include Q&As with the development time, during which the developer confirmed that the upcoming reboot of Skate is due for early access launch this year.
“We are still planning on launching in Early Access later this year,” the blog reads.
“We have an ambitious vision for Skate – an ever-growing, ever-evolving skateboarding sandbox that expands over time with the feedback of the players living in San Vansterdam. Our Early Access launch will only be Day One of that experience, a starting point from which new features, improvements, and content will be added over time.”
The Q&A section confirmed that the game will feature cross-play, and that any in-game currency (which can be bought with real money) that players have spent during the currently running playtests will be given back to them for the early access launch.
The Q&A also stated that the game won’t feature an offline mode, with the Skate team citing the evolving city as the reason for a mandatory online connection.
Addressing whether the game supports offline play, the Q&A reads: “The simple answer – No. The game and city are designed to be a living, breathing massively multiplayer skateboarding sandbox that is always online and always evolving.
“You’ll see bigger things evolve, like changes to the city over time, as well as smaller things, like live events and other in-game activities. In order to deliver on our vision of a skateboarding world, the game will always require a live connection. That is probably not much of a surprise if you’ve been in our playtest.”
Skate was revealed in June 2020 in a surprise announcement which broke EA’s Twitter engagement record.
The free-to-play game is the debut title from Full Circle, a Vancouver-based EA studio headed up by former Xbox Live general manager Daniel McCulloch, who spent 15 years with Microsoft’s gaming business before departing in 2020.
