Like how 2012 was the year of the bow, or how 2019 was the year of battle royale games, it seems 2020 is becoming the year of skateboarding games. This year there's already been a Pro Skater remaster announced, along with several independently developed games like Session and Skater XL. Whether it's the Tony Hawk fans, the Skate fans, or both, fans from all over were sorely missing a good skateboarding simulator in any capacity.
Especially after the botched return of Pro Skater 5, fans of the Tony Hawk's series as well as other games like Skate have been waiting for a good skateboarding game for a while. Now that the original Pro Skater 1 + 2 are making their triumphant return, it seems EA wants to get in on the action by announcing a new Skate game is in development. While there weren't many details announced, it's clear EA wants to get ahead of the curve in response to the positive feedback from Pro Skater's remaster.
The Resurgence of Skateboarding Games
Skateboarding definitely lost the pop culture spotlight it once had in the late 90s/early 2000s. General interest in the sport wavered over time for a number of reasons, whether it was exterior factors or just the general loss of public attention. A lot of skateboarding's popularity spawned from the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series, which first came out in 1999. Since then, there's been several Pro Skater and spin-off Tony Hawk games spanning the decade between 2000-2010. Eventually the next generation of teenagers simply lost interest in the iconic sport that used to be so popular, and the game's stopped releasing as frequently because of this. It didn't help that the last Pro Skater didn't exactly perform well among fans and new players.
The dream of a good skateboarding game didn't die with Pro Skater 5's critical and commercial failure. Several indie projects of skateboarding games have grown in popularity since 2017. Whether it's the spiritual successor to Skate like Session or Skater XL, or it's something completely new and abstract like Skate Story, skateboarding seems to be making another resurgence in 2020 at least in videogame form. The popularity of the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 Remastered announcement seems to have solidified that the fan interest is there as well. There's still one more iconic skateboarding franchise that needs to make its return as well.
Where Has Skate Been?
Where many fans enjoy the bombastic and unrealistic nature of the Tony Hawk's series, some fans prefer the more simulation-based Skate series. EA's skateboarding venture began in 2007 with a desire to accurately emulate street skating culture on a realistic scale. Skate implemented the innovative "flick it" control scheme that utilized the analog sticks to perform tricks using fighting-game-like inputs. Merging the control scheme with its down-to-earth gameplay was what differentiated Skate from the Tony Hawk's games in a big way,
Then in 2010, Skate 3 was the last game in the series released. Even though the game was still plenty popular and saw great critical and commercial success, the writing was on the wall for skating's popularity in general. EA likely realized this and decided the series didn't need another sequel any time soon, and eventually Skate went dark. Fans eventually started posting on EA's social media channels, ranging from asking to demanding a Skate 4 announcement or any kind of new Skate game. EA's Instagram in particular was flooded with Skate 4 replies and messages asking for Skate 4.
THPS vs. Skate: A Reactionary Unveiling (Fans too!)
Now Skate will be making a return on next-gen consoles, but it's hard not to feel like this was a reactionary choice from EA. Prior to this year, EA had repeatedly shown no interest in making a sequel to Skate 3 or another Skate game in general. CEO Andrew Wilson even made a point to shut down rumors that Skate 4 was in development back in 2017. Later that year, Session was announced by independent developer creā-ture studios, which eventually was fully funded on Kickstarter and released in Steam early access. Another Skate disciple Skater XL was also announced during a Nintendo Direct in 2019, further fueling the interest in modern skateboarding games. Now the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 Remastered announcement has caused a major resurgence in fans interested in skateboarding games.
Granted, there's an inherent revelry for the classic Pro Skater games, but it does mean that games like Session and Skater XL have gotten a lot of love from fans as well. EA likely recognized this, and put together the Skate announcement for EA Play earlier this month as a result. Obviously, this announcement couldn't have been a knee-jerk reaction unless there was a serious project in development prior, but it is curious that now was the right time to make the announcement. There wasn't a trailer or any gameplay associated with the unveiling, just the developers stating that a new project exists in some capacity.
It's very possible that developing the new Skate game is simply an answer to the surrounding competition. Considering the deluge of fan requests and the creative director of Skate even stating fans "commented this into existence," it's very possible the outcry of fans was enough to push an approval from EA, but it's hard to ignore the greater context and competition surrounding the announcement as well. Considering how early this unveiling seems to be, this could be a step towards good faith by EA so that fans can at least expect a new Skate game to join the resurgence of skateboarding video games at, well, some point.
A new Skate game is currently in development.