New Skate Game Coming From EA (May Not Be Called Skate 4)

[Nergal]

 

 

At EA Play 2020, the popular publisher announced a revival of the long-dormant Skate franchise, bringing back members of the original EA Black Box team to lead development on still-unnamed title. In 2007, Skate emerged as the first true competitor to the overwhelming dominance of the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series. It was arguably the first skateboarding game to not attempt to copy Activision and Neversoft's extreme sports franchise and, as such, was praised for bringing a fresh perspective to a genre that was beginning to show its age and the cracks in its armor.

With its focus on realism and physics-based gameplay, Skate built itself a dedicated following of ravenous fans. This success led to a sequel in 2009, but the franchise was quickly abandoned after the release of 2010's Skate 3.

In recent years, the skateboarding genre has begun to experience a comeback of sorts. Indie titles Session, Skater XL, and SkateBIRD have reminded gaming enthusiasts of their long-forgotten passion for extreme sports video games. Earlier this year, publisher Activision announced Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+ 2, a big-budget revival of their classic skateboarding franchise, and now EA has followed suit with their own high-profile skating renaissance.

The closing moments of the 2020 EA Play event featured unexpected appearances from Cuz Parry and Deran Chung, members of the original EA Black Box team who developed the classic Skate trilogy. While they didn't provide anything in terms of footage, details, or even a title, they did confirm development on a new title in the Skate franchise.



While the announcement was arguably premature, since they didn't have anything to show, fans are nonetheless thrilled over the prospect of a brand new title in the long-dormant Skate series. The fact that key members of the original development team are returning to work on the game makes this even more special to longtime fans who want to see their beloved franchise receive the treatment it deserves.

No release date has been announced for the new Skate game. Since no footage was shown at EA Play 2020 and the game is currently without so much as a title, it's likely the Skate revival is still years away. There is virtually no hope of Skate 4, if that's what it will be called, releasing in 2020. Even a 2021 launch seems unlikely, thus putting the new Skate firmly in next-gen territory. What was old is new again; with new Tony Hawk's Pro Skater and Skate games on the horizon, as well as indie tributes like SkateBIRD, the extreme sports gaming genre is well on its way to making a long-overdue comeback.