Will EA's next Skate game be a free-to-play title? Cross-platform, release date, and more

The wait is finally over for Skate fans, with the next iteration finally in development almost 12 years after the release of the last title, Skate 3. The upcoming iteration will be a free-to-play game and EA has also announced that it will feature both cross-play and cross-progression.

In a recent interview, the development studio Full Circle's general manager, Dan McCulloch, and EA's Head of Product management Isabelle Mocquard have revealed some significant information about how the game is going to be. They talked about the game's future, availability and what we can expect from the AAA title.

---

EA's Skate will be a free-to-play title, set to feature cross-play

While Skateboarding is a popular sport in the real world, in video games, the 'Skate' series is one of the best series that fans can find.

However, after the release of the last game in 2010, its development studio EA Black Box was shut down. There was no news regarding the much-popular series until 2020, when EA announced that it was developing a completely new project.

The upcoming title is being developed by a new studio founded by EA called Full Circle. It is a remote studio, which means developers are pitching in from all over North America, working from home to make the game a reality.

The title is still in its very early stages and the developers are taking feedback from the community to make it better. While it will be free-to-play, the community raised questions immediately as to whether it will have microtransactions or not. If yes, will it be a pay-to-win title? The Head of the Product Manager of EA, Isabelle Mocquard, replied:

"We are taking inspiration from games like Apex Legends or other popular titles that are free to play, where spending money is totally optional, and it’s mostly about cosmetics and convenience."

So, microtransactions will be available in the game. However, they will be completely focused on cosmetics and other related matter which will not have any effect on gameplay.

Furthermore, it will also feature live support for a long time. The developers have revealed that they are looking forward to making a title which will stay relevant for a long while since there will be no sequel in the near future.

So far, some veteran players have been invited to play the game and test it out. Since it is in a very early build, anything regarding it is subject to change. As expected, the title's release date has not been revealed yet.

The game will be available to play on Xbox and PlayStation, including both the next-gen and old-gen consoles. Furthermore, it will first be available on PC.