Skate is still in the relatively early stages of development, but Full Circle and EA recently invited select players to see how its shaping up as part of a recent round of playtesting. Predictably enough, details on the game have leaked from that playtesting, courtesy of Reddit.
Skate’s map, which is allegedly called Fun City (aligning with previous leaks), seems to feature a mixture of new and familiar areas, with an example of the latter being the Community Center from the original Skate, and an example of the former being a spot called “the Space Store”, which apparently has a sculpture of Saturn. Meanwhile, the map has various bus stops functioning as fast travel points.
Where controls are concerned, it seems like Skate has three presets- Classic, Streamlined, and Experienced, which is all pretty self-explanatory, while there are allegedly also PC-focused controls featured in the game. Players can also choose to push forward using the analog sticks, which is a first for the series, though this option can be turned off. It also seems like there will be two camera options, one high and one low, and switching between the two with the push of the right stick will be possible.
Ragdoll physics are, of course, back, and are said to be more exaggerated than they were in Skate 3. Meanwhile, respawning will involve a full and proper animation of your character getting back on their feet. When you are on foot, you will also have the ability to roll and slide. Finally, according to this leak, in the playtest, there were no collisions for players who were playing in the same server together (the number for which stood at 60).
Meanwhile, true to EA’s word, it seems like user-generated content is also going to be central to the experience. According to the playtesting leak, players will be creating and expanding their own private skate park, and crafting materials and blueprints for skate park items will also play an important role in the game. Similarly, video editing is also in, which includes buying and using different frames and stickers. Videos and pictures can also be shared, and the ones that get a lot of likes will be featured on billboards in the game itself.
Emotes will, unsurprisingly, make a return, while character customization will also have several options. This, in turn, will allegedly be tied to progression, with a level system that goes up to 100. Skating, creating stuff, and sharing pictures and videos helps you level up, and leveling up, in turn, helps unlock more skills and more customization options. Players also earn an in-game currency by completing challenges and objectives and finding collectibles, which can be used to purchase crafting materials, cosmetics, and more.
It’s also worth mentioning that, as the leak explains, this is all from an early build of the game, and it’s clearly still a work-in-progress, which means ideas may not necessarily be nailed down- so some of this stuff might not be set in stone.
As part of the playtesting leak, it’s also been seemingly confirmed that Skate is being built on the Frostbite engine. Read more on that through here.
