EA has renewed the Skate trademark, keeping hope alive that the publisher could release Skate 4 after years of fans asking for the game to happen. With no new Skate game from EA, it has prompted teams of developers to create their own skateboarding games, like one indie team did with Session.
An article published on GamesRadar today revealed that EA had abandoned a Skate trademark in August 2019. This trademark had been filed in February 2018 but in August, it had not been renewed as EA had failed to respond to messages from the United States Patent and Trademark Office. In May, fans flooded the EA Instagram account with calls to make Skate 4 and these same fans were disappointed by the news as it suggested that EA had no plans for the series and that it hadn't read their comments.
However, it seems that EA hasn't abandoned the Skate trademark as many had thought. Another article about EA's Skate trademarks published on HyperX's gaming news site AllGamers explained that EA does have another Skate trademark which was filed in 2009, before the release of Skate 2. The last activity on this trademark was in June 2019 and it confirms that EA has renewed the trademark for another 10 years.
This probably doesn't mean that EA is about to release Skate 4. In 2017, a tweet by a community manager suggesting that a new Skate game is being made prompted EA to state that no, Skate 4 isn't in development. What's more likely is that EA is keeping hold of the Skate trademark because it sells that games on places such as Steam and its own Origin storefront. Skate 3 is available on its game subscription service EA Access too and it's also hugely popular with YouTubers who make videos of their characters bailing or trying to pull off incredible tricks. EA may not have released a new Skate game in more than nine years, but it is making money from the series.
The renewal of the trademark will probably only make fans call for Skate 4 more, though. In 2017, a tweet from rapper and skateboarder Tyler, The Creator led to greater Skate 4 demand and showed EA that famous and non famous gamers around the world would like to see another Skate game released. The publisher may not be working on Skate 4 now, but many will ask how long fans can keep asking for the game until EA just gives in and starts developing it.
Source: GamesRadar, AllGamers, Justia