EA has released a new blog post for skate., confirming that the game will still release for early access in 2025. The blog post, titled The Grind, reveals more new details about the upcoming game.
In the first entry of The Grind, EA confirms that skate. will not have an offline mode. The reason for this is due to the fact that “The game and city are designed to be a living, breathing massively multiplayer skateboarding sandbox that is always online and always evolving.” Additionally, the ongoing playtest (available to 200k players) supports cross-play/cross-progression between consoles and PC.
The Grind also elaborates on how microtransactions work for the playtest, stating the following:
“San Vansterdam will be a living skating world and we want to support ongoing development effectively while also offering a system that feels fair and fun for all of our players. To get there, we’re running extensive testing across PC and PS (Xbox testing will be rolling out later) to catch any issues or pain points, and to ensure that the content represents a fair value for our players.
We know that using real money during a playtest is a little unusual, but we think it’s the best way to properly assess and adjust the system before launch. If you see prices or other things changing over time, please understand that this is normal. And of course, you will receive the amount you spent during playtesting in San Van Bucks (SVB) when we reset for Early Access launch.”
Players who spend money in the playtest will get a refund once the early access releases. Further, EA will not lock new areas and mechanics behind a paywall. Skate. will release in 2025 for PlayStation, Xbox, and PC via early access.
