EA's free-to-play Skate revival is heading into early access next year

Four years after announcing a new Skate game - and two years after eliciting collective groans with the news it would be free-to-play - EA has revealed the latest instalment in its long-running skateboarding series will launch into early access next year.

When developer Full Circle first began sharing details of its new Skate project (which is officially known as Skate, rather than Skate 4) back in 2022, the studio explained it wasn't "a sequel, it's not a remake, a reboot, [or] a prequel." Instead, it was described as an "authentic evolution" of the series intended to reflect "where skateboarding and gaming is in the real world".

Two years on, and Skate - which is set in San Vansterdam, a sister city to previous games' San Vanelona - has already been available to a steadily growing number of early playtesters for quite some time. It was also briefly available to considerably more than a select few players after an early build of the game was leaked back in 2022.

And now - following EA's recent announcement that closed playtests for Skate's console version are launching this "fall" - the publisher has confirmed early access is due to begin next year. That's presumably early access for everyone, but the announcement is vague - with EA adding it'll "share more details on what to expect in the coming months."

Skate will be available on PlayStation, Xbox, PC (including Steam), and mobile devices when its early access begins in 2025 - some 15 years after the launch of Skate 3.