EA's highly anticipated revival of Skate will require players to maintain an "always on" internet connection, as revealed in an updated FAQ on the official blog by developer Full Circle. The team emphasized that this decision was made to fulfill their vision of a dynamic, ever-evolving skateboarding world. Full Circle stated, "The game and city are designed to be a living, breathing massively multiplayer skateboarding sandbox that is always online and always evolving. You’ll see bigger things evolve, like changes to the city over time, as well as smaller things, like live events and other in-game activities."
The necessity of an "always on" connection means that the game cannot be played offline, impacting players who might prefer single-player experiences. Full Circle justified this by saying, "To deliver on [its] vision of a skateboarding world, the game will always require a live connection." This requirement might not come as a surprise to those who participated in the playtests, as Full Circle noted, "That is probably not much of a surprise if you’ve been in our playtest."
In September 2024, Full Circle initiated the Always-On Playtest, which aims to test the game in a continuous live environment with servers running non-stop. Skate is slated for an early access launch in 2025, though a specific date remains unconfirmed. Initially announced at EA Play way back in 2020, the game was described as being in its "very early" stages. Since then, Full Circle has engaged the community with closed community playtests of early builds and recently introduced microtransactions.
Players can now use real-world money to purchase a virtual currency called San Van Bucks, which can be used to acquire cosmetic items. Full Circle aims to test Skate’s microtransaction system to ensure a "positive experience when purchasing items from the Skate store." They explained, "We know that using real money during a playtest is a little unusual, but we think it’s the best way to properly assess and adjust the system before launch." They also assured players that any money spent during the playtest would be converted into San Van Bucks (SVB) and credited back when the game resets for the Early Access launch. Full Circle added, "If you see prices or other things changing over time, please understand that this is normal."
