skate. will be free-to-play, support full cross-play and cross-progression between last-gen, current-gen, and PC

skate. will be free-to-play and feature full cross-play and cross-progression between “last-gen, next-gen, and PC,” publisher Electronic Arts and developer Full Circle announced in a new “Board Room” developer discussion video. A mobile version is also in the works. Specific consoles have yet to be confirmed.

“We really want folks to get the most value out of their playing experience as possible, and be able to play on their favorite platforms the way that they like to play,” said Full Circle general manager Dan McCullo. “And so skate. will be full cross-play and cross-progression, across last-gen, next-gen, and PC. We’ll take it even further, and as we’re continuing down this road, and do the same thing with mobile. We want cross-play and cross-progression on mobile. We’re pretty early on mobile, but we want to get the controls and everything to feel great. And when that’s ready, we’ll bring it all together and you’ll be able to play on whatever platform you want with your friends, and that’s going to be awesome.”

The game’s free-to-play nature is also reflected in its title, which is simply skate. (period included), and not Skate 4.

“It’s not Skate 4,” said creative director Cuz Parry. “And here’s the reason: This isn’t a sequel. It’s not a remake. It’s not a reboot, a prequel; it’s not any of that. It’s not a remake or a remaster, whatever ‘re’ you can do. This is it, it’s skate. We’re in this for the long haul. That means we’re not an iterative title. There won’t be a Skate 5 through 10. We won’t be pumping them out all the time. We’re going to do this. We’re going to listen to what you guys say over the course of time, and put the features that you guys want into it. Okay, and one more time for the people in the back, it’s skate. It’s NOT Skate 4. Just skate. Period. That’s why we put a little period after it.”

Full Circle head of product management Isabelle Mocquard added, “We have the ambition to keep supporting skate. for years to come. From the very inception of skate., the development team knew we wanted to create something different. Our vision was not a game that you’d play through and ‘beat,’ but something that you can regularly come back to and discover new things. Our dream is that skate. never ends. And in order to do that, we’ll be actively supporting skate. with new gameplay elements and tweaks, new content releases and events, and lots of seasonal drops.”

skate. will feature micro-transactions, but McCullo stressed that the game will not be pay to win, no map areas will be locked behind paywalls, there will be no paid loot boxes, and no paid gameplay advantages.

“When we were looking at this model, we looked at versions of it out there that we liked and those we didn’t,” said Mocquard. “And we’re still continuing to explore different options, but 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. With such a model, we’ll be able to keep the community united between the players who decide to spend and those who don’t. And that means that those social connections, those friendships made in-game, can flourish without splitting our audience.”

As for a release date, creative director Deran Chung simply says, “it’ll be [out] when it’s ready.”

“I mean, I could say tomorrow like Cuz would, but our mantra is: let’s not eff it up, right?” Chung said. “So, we’re going to take our time and not put any unrealistic expectations on when it comes to a launch date. It’ll be when it’s ready. I mean that’s the right way to do it. But we’re excited to be extending an invite to the skate. community, to play the game in development this summer and in the coming months.”

For more information on becoming a skate. Insider and playtesting the game, visit the official website.

Watch the full “Board Room” developer discussion below.

The Board Room