Summary
The map of EA’s upcomingSkatereboothas been shared online, originating from the game’s closed playtesting sessions. Following the footsteps of the popularTony Hawk’s Pro Skatergames, EA started its ownSkatefranchise in the late 2000s to huge success, quickly becoming one of the most beloved franchises in its genre at the time.
With the 2010s seeing the skateboarding genre lose its relevance in the larger gaming zeitgeist,Skatefans have been waiting for well over a decade for the beloved skating franchise to make its return. Fortunately in Summer 2020, 10 years after therelease ofSkate 3, EA had finally announced a newSkategame. Being developed by Full Circle, a brand-new studio built by EA solely for this revival ofSkate,and headed by some ofSkate’s original creators, the new title has been confirmed to be free-to-play with a live service model, and has been confirmed to land on PC and Mac as well.
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Now, eagerSkatefans have gotten a peek of the new game’s map, or perhaps just a portion of it. On Twitter, an account namedLetsTalkGaming posted an image ofSkate’s mapfrom an official closed playtest they’ve taken part in. The gray map features several streets and a variety of different icons pinned to it, including bus stops and what seem to be the locations of other players.
This leakedSkatemap does seem a bit small, though the open worlds of theSkatefranchise have always been on the smaller side. There may only be just a handful of streets, but skating games are usually densely packed with parks and skating-friendly areas situated in between the roads. The right side of the map features a large building type structure which could turn out to be some sort of mall or indoor area rich with rails and stairs for pulling off tricks. There’s the possibility that this leaked map is just a small portion of a larger open world, as a bridge on the upper left side of the map looks strangely cut off. Additionally, the icons of what seem to be other players on the map make a lot of sense consideringSkate’s status as a free-to-play live serviceplatform.
Since it’s now been over three years since EA’s thrilling announcement ofSkate, it’s about time for a progress report and for fans to begin seeing more of the game.Skatehas been in the playtesting stages for over a year now.IfSkatereally is progressing well, it wouldn’t be unwise to begin expecting to see and hear more about it next year, perhaps at an EA Play showcase.
