After more than 10 years it seems as though Skate 4 might be on its way sometime this year, thanks to playtesting that has reportedly begun. The popular skateboarding franchise launched in 2007 by Electronic Arts but, after the release of Skate 3 in 2010, had laid dormant until EA Play Live 2020 when they announced a new Skate game was on its way. Details about the game had been sparse in the announcement, and not many have been revealed since, but fans are hopeful that this year will be the year they see more.
Skate was released as a competitor to the original skateboarding series Tony Hawk's Pro Skater and has taken on its own life and grown its own fanbase. There are many people who are loyal to the Skate series and when the remaster of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 +2 dropped, Skate fans were hopeful that they would soon see the franchise return. After the announcement of the new title fans waited patiently for any news and in January of 2021, a teaser video was released on the official Skate YouTube channel. The trailer not only told fans that there was going to be an open-world element to the game, but it also revealed that EA and Full Circle, the new developers of the series, were working closely with the Skate community to get the new game just right.
A tweet detailing possible playtesting of Skate 4 has surfaced thanks to some coding discovered on Origin's API, according to Playstation Lifestyle. The coding mentions Skate playtesting and also mentions that the characters and stats achieved in the playtest will not transfer over to the main game. The leaks also mention that the quality assurance of the game is well underway and has been for a while. While these are just rumors at the moment, there were additional reports that playtesting on Skate 4 has been happening for a few months prior to the discovery of this coding.
Earlier in 2022, the CEO of EA did confirm that Skate 4 would release sooner rather than later, but again details in this report were sparse. The CEO also mentioned that user-generated content would be at the forefront of the new game and that fans could also look forward to a lot of possibilities for exploration. This means that there is potential for fan-created maps and challenges to be included in the game, which would be an exciting new element for players.
Skate 4 will likely be bigger and better than the last three installments. With the potential for open-world, new multiplayer modes, and more user-generated content, fans will likely have a lot to look forward to after the long wait. Though there is no official release date, Skate 4 is currently in development and will hopefully be available soon.
Source: Playstation Lifestyle