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New Skate will be Free to play, will have crossplay and crossprogression between PS, XBOX and PC

Draugoth

Draugoth

Gold Member

www.theverge.com

Skate’s developers say going free to play is a ‘natural evolution of the franchise’

It’s not quite the Skate 3 sequel you might have expected.
www.theverge.com www.theverge.com


EA's new Skate is going to be a live-service free-to-play skateboarding game, developer Full Circle announced in a video on Thursday. Fans have been eagerly asking for some kind of Skate 3 follow-up for years, but this new title won't be the Skate 4 they might have been expecting; instead of a numbered iteration, Full Circle is imagining Skate (that's the name, though EA stylizes it with a period at the end) as a constantly evolving world with community-created content that's easy for everyone to ollie into.
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It's an authentic evolution of the franchise and taking what Skate 3 was in 2010 and bringing it to now and to the future," Deran Chung, a creative director on Skate, said in an interview with The Verge. "That is not only an evolution of the franchise, but it's an evolution of where skateboarding is and was from 2010 to now and also where games are from then to now."

Skate will be available on PlayStation, Xbox, and PC, with crossplay and cross-progression. (The developers are exploring a mobile version, too.) But the full release is still a long ways away. In June, Full Circle debuted "pre-pre-pre-alpha" footage and invited players to sign up to playtest Skate, but they haven't given any sort of release timeframe for the launch.
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As for the game's business model, Mocquard said the microtransactions are primarily going to be about cosmetics and convenience. "I want it to be very clear that it's not a pay-to-win game. There won't be any gameplay areas hidden exclusively behind a paywall. Players won't be able to buy any gameplay altering advantages." The team believes that "the best business models are based on respect, trust, and transparency," and they want to create "a healthy model that will allow us to continue investing back into the game," according to Mocquard. The team is also planning on having things like seasonal drops and live events in the game, "but we are still exploring different options."
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One feature the developers were excited about was what they called "CollaboZones" (a working title), which are areas that can be collaboratively built by players and appear in other people's worlds. In Thursday's video, Full Circle showed off some examples, including an absolutely massive ramp and a structure that looked like a skyscraper-tall pachinko board.
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bender

bender

What time is it?
giphy.gif
 
AV

AV

We ain't outta here in ten minutes, we won't need no rocket to fly through space
Well, the dream was nice while it lasted.
 
Punished Miku

Punished Miku

Gold Member
Not surprised EA went this route. Any genre not in the open world AAA or multiplayer shooter genres are considered a liability that won't sell.
 
Salty Popsicle

Salty Popsicle

Banned
Damn, it seems we're all going to be looking like generic men/women wearing a white t-shirt, blue jeans, and riding a graphic-less board unless we splurge on cosmetics. I can maybe look past that if the gameplay is top-notch, but would much rather just pay $60/$70 once and have everything unlocked from the get-go.

Dad Skateboarding GIF
 
theHFIC

theHFIC

Member
Since they took so long between releases, Skate is now entering their own "Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam / Project 8 / Proving Ground" era with modernized, current-gen microtransaction annoyances.
 
MiguelItUp

MiguelItUp

Member
I really wish it was just a full fledged game. I can't say I'm not interested anymore, but now I'm SUPER concerned, lmao. I really hope they don't screw this all up. Removing any and all expectations as a just in case, lol.
 
theHFIC

theHFIC

Member
Ozriel said:
Lol. You people are nuts. This is excellent news.

You get a thriving online community, with lots of post launch content, paid for by folks who want to buy cosmetic MTX.
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I am more glass half empty so I see it as a microtransaction fueled game as a service that will get shutdown once it isn't pulling in the money and user numbers EA wants to see. Then where does the community go?

What Game as a Service has EA run successfully at this point? I mean besides Anthem of course because that is just doing gangbusters numbers.
 
Deft Beck

Deft Beck

Member
This is about as good of a Skate game you're going to get from EA nowadays.

If you don't like it, just play THPS Remaster again, or one of the indie Skate-likes.
 
8BiTw0LF

8BiTw0LF

Banned
Great! Do it like Apex Legends. Massive amount of free content and some buyable skins for character and board.

F2P is suited for Skate and gaining a thriving community.

Throw in a world editor and watch it explode.
 
March Climber

March Climber

Member
theHFIC said:
I am more glass half empty so I see it as a microtransaction fueled game as a service that will get shutdown once it isn't pulling in the money and user numbers EA wants to see. Then where does the community go?

What Game as a Service has EA run successfully at this point? I mean besides Anthem of course because that is just doing gangbusters numbers.
Click to expand...
Apex Legends.

Also, I agree with the poster you've quoted. There's no way to actually pay to win for a skateboarding game because it's too skill based, so the worst you'll get is cosmetic MTX. On top of that the franchise doesn't immediately die by costing 60-70 dollars. Everyone wins this way. All it literally has to do is just be good and not be as barebones and as broken as Tony Hawk Pro Skater 5.
 
theHFIC

theHFIC

Member
8BiTw0LF said:
Have you ever heard about Apex Legends?
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Good point, personally I forgot about the game, but looking at Steam Stats its been in the top 5 and 10 fairly consistent. Hopefully EA will add in a Battle Royale mode with Skate to pull in some of those players who may be hesitant to invest time in a a technical centered skateboarding game.
 
8BiTw0LF

8BiTw0LF

Banned
theHFIC said:
Good point, personally I forgot about the game, but looking at Steam Stats its been in the top 5 and 10 fairly consistent. Hopefully EA will add in a Battle Royale mode with Skate to pull in some of those players who may be hesitant to invest time in a a technical centered skateboarding game.
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World editor and they're golden. A battle royale based on points from tricks and checkpoints would be awesome tho'.

Skate has a way better oppurtunity to receive content being F2P. People really need to stop hating at all F2P games, cause some are thriving without having you to spend a single dime - and that should be appreciated.
 
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ManaByte

ManaByte

Gold Member
8BiTw0LF said:
Have you ever heard about Apex Legends?
Click to expand...

You mean the game with extremely predatory MTX and a Battle Pass that's locked to a specific platform and zero cross-progression?

EA did the same thing with BF2042. They're allowing cross progression for leveling, but the Battle Pass is platform specific.

Games like Call of Duty, Fortnite, Fall Guys, Rocket League, Halo Infinite, Sea of Thieves, etc have true cross-progression where the Battlepass is universal across whatever platform you play the game on. Even Ubi is working to move R6 Siege to the same cross-progression model this year.

EA is shit when it comes to GaaS games.
 
O

Ozriel

M$FT
theHFIC said:
I am more glass half empty so I see it as a microtransaction fueled game as a service that will get shutdown once it isn't pulling in the money and user numbers EA wants to see. Then where does the community go?
Click to expand...

A free to play Skate game is pretty much guaranteed success. And cosmetic microtransactions are very likely to be appealing for a game such as this.

If the game fails, then it’d have failed as a paid game anyway.

theHFIC said:
What Game as a Service has EA run successfully at this point? I mean besides Anthem of course because that is just doing gangbusters numbers.
Click to expand...

Apex legends?
 
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8BiTw0LF

8BiTw0LF

Banned
ManaByte said:
You mean the game with extremely predatory MTX and a Battle Pass that's locked to a specific platform and zero cross-progression?
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Predatory meaning what? Cause you can play ALL content without having to pay up - and you're not getting an edge by paying for stuff. How can that be predatory - say, compared to Diablo Immortal?
 
O

Ozriel

M$FT
ManaByte said:
You mean the game with extremely predatory MTX and a Battle Pass that's locked to a specific platform and zero cross-progression?

EA did the same thing with BF2042. They're allowing cross progression for leveling, but the Battle Pass is platform specific.

Games like Call of Duty, Fortnite, Fall Guys, Rocket League, Halo Infinite, Sea of Thieves, etc have true cross-progression where the Battlepass is universal across whatever platform you play the game on. Even Ubi is working to move R6 Siege to the same cross-progression model this year.

EA is shit when it comes to GaaS games.
Click to expand...

Please stop moving goalposts. He asked if EA had any successful GaaS game.
Apex Legends is successful.
 
purvispisgah

purvispisgah

Member
My initial reaction to this is something akin to, "of fucking course"

However, all I want is the ability to skate around an open world with those controls. If other players aren't too intrusive, this could be ok, at least in theory.

A port of Skate 2 to PC is what I REALLY want, but that appears to be a thing that will never happen.
 
theHFIC

theHFIC

Member
Ozriel said:
If the game fails, then it’d have failed as a paid game anyway.
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A failed paid game can still be played by the fans after it falls by the wayside... Unless it is centrally tied to an online multiplayer component of course.
 
Ghost of Caelid

Ghost of Caelid

Banned
Good news to me. Customizations should be super fun and skate is the kind of game that needs long term support. Just make the prices fair. A skateboard decal or sneakers should be 1.99 not 8.99.
 
GinSama

GinSama

Member
After all these time we finally have this franchise back…. For this kind of comeback???

That’s pretty sad, I guess I will keep playing skate 3
 
KXVXII9X

KXVXII9X

Member
8BiTw0LF said:
Predatory meaning what? Cause you can play ALL content without having to pay up - and you're not getting an edge by paying for stuff. How can that be predatory - say, compared to Diablo Immortal?
Click to expand...
The thing with games starting out free to play or being built on a model of continuous updates, is the base game is usually a bit more barebones and stripped down from something that is mostly done release.

I have noticed when many of these kinds of games is most of the updates are cosmetic. There are very little gameplay updates to keep people engaged. Doesn't mean it can't happen but you aren't guaranteed it will happen. The Sims 4 is really bad with this. The base game is a lot more shallow than the past two games and most of the updates are cosmetics or glorified cheats (magic). Even after all those updates, it didn't change the main issues with the base gameplay.
 
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8BiTw0LF

8BiTw0LF

Banned
KXVXII9X said:
The thing with games starting out free to play or being built on a model of continuous updates, is the base game is usually a bit more barebones and stripped down from something that is mostly done release.

I have noticed when many of these kinds of games is most of the updates are cosmetic. There are very little gameplay updates to keep people engaged. Doesn't mean it can't happen but you aren't guaranteed it will happen. The Sims 4 is really bad with this. The base game is a lot more shallow than the past two games and most of the updates are cosmetics or glorified cheats (magic). Even after all those updates, it didn't change the main issues with the base gameplay.
Click to expand...
After 3 years Apex Legends have 4 giga maps, 4 modes (battle royale pubs and ranked, arenas pubs and ranked), every season there's 3-4 events with new and returning modes and the roster of selectable characters went from 8 to 21.

Fortnite has a lot of events and changing up maps/modes.

There's a reason why succesful F2P games keeps being relevant - even 4-5 years after release.
 
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Kikorin

Kikorin

Member
At first this sounds bad, especially because I expect a B-tier budget for a ftp game like that, and heavy focus on multiplayer that I couldn't care less. If this will not be the case, an ever evolving game could be cool, I just hope they'll don't send it to death with some crazy ideas about monetization.
 
Thabass

Thabass

Member
As long as they keep it to purely cosmetics and keep producing content, then I'm cool with it. But if they treat it like Halo Infinite, hooo boy.
 
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