Skate was an engaging franchise that built on the success of the Tony Hawk games by increasing the difficulty of tricks, as well as largely keeping to an open-world format. Many have been wondering what happened to the beloved franchise and if it will ever return. Despite EA's Instagram being bombarded with Skate 4 demands, there has been little hope for fans. The answers to fans questions about the future of the series are embedded within an understanding of what happened in the development of the franchise.

Skate was released through EA in 2007 and introduced a 'flick it' approach to doing tricks. Essentially, the right analog stick needed to be mastered in order to do simple tricks and many appreciated this new difficulty, so much so that the game sold far more than EA had anticipated. With a host of groundbreaking online features and recording mechanics, it's unsurprising that a lack of news about a reboot of the Skate series was one of the biggest disappointments of E3 2018. Unfortunately for the franchise, its demise was in this incredible foundation given by the first entry in the series.

RELATED: 10 Video Games That Need A Sequel Or Reboot

Skate 2 built on Skate by expanding the world and introducing 'Hall of Meat' which was inspired by Thrasher's real-life feature. The mechanic allowed players to see what bones had been broken and the damage caused by a players bail. This meant that difficult tricks were much more fun to fail and it certainly added longevity to the game. The game sold well and the franchise looked to be thriving. In fact, many of the mechanics of Skate 2 are still wanted in a new Skate game. Yet, this was a peak for the franchise before a steep fall.

skate 2 thrasher

Black Box lost staff because EA cut 10% of all its employees in 2008. However, the studio continued to produce Skate games. Skate 3 was released a year after Skate 2 and delivered improvements for online gameplay. Yet overall, this wasn't a huge improvement on Skate 2 and the game sold less than its predecessors and critics noted that there weren't too many new aspects for players to get excited about. The result was a game that sold 5 million copies, which is impressive but was not substantial enough to swerve EA's set direction.

RELATED: 15 PlayStation Classic Games Sony's Mini Console Must Have

Skate's main competitor the Tony Hawk franchise was rapidly losing sales and EA felt that the future of sports games was in other extreme sports. The remaining Black Box team was set to work on Need for Speed: The Run which was released to disappointing returns. With that, Black Box was shut down and members of the team dispersed to other studios.

Hope was rekindled when Tony Hawks Pro Skater 5 was released in 2015 and many were riding the wave of skateboard game nostalgia. Yet, the poor reception of the game likely reaffirmed EA's decision 5 years prior. In fact, for many Tony Hawks Pro Skater 5 was one of the most disappointing games of 2015. Robomodo couldn't recapture the magic of the Neversoft Tony Hawk games and Skate would likely find itself in the same position under a new developer. Since this point, speculation about Skate 4 has largely come from fans of the series.

skate 3 and no skate 4

Interest in Skate 3 peaked when it was rediscovered for its 'Hall of Meat' mode and some of its glitches. Followed by Skate 3 servers coming back online, there was an air of anticipation for an announcement. On the back of the servers coming back online, there was a huge expectation for EA to give some details at E3. In the build-up to E3 2018, Tyler the Creator even tweeted about Skate 4 and excitement was at an all-time high, with a mysterious trailer also adding to the anticipation.

Rumors of a new trailer being Skate 4 were dismissed as it was revealed to be a new skating game called Session. The only news from this point on has come in the form of a trademark. Electronic Arts has renewed the Skate trademark, but this is likely a precaution in order to retain the rights to its back catalog and safeguard a franchise if skating games become popular once more. It is also cheaper to renew a trademark than create a new franchise.

It looks as if Skate 4 won't be arriving any time soon because of EA's lack of interest in the genre, waning audience excitement, and a defunct original studio. The franchise has been dismantled piece by piece through external and internal factors. While EA renewing the Skate trademark may spark hope, its likely a business decision based on practicality. If a new game were to revive the market, Skate may come back, but this seems very unlikely. For now, it seems like players need to reboot their old consoles and ready their right analog stick if they want to break as many bones as possible or carve out runs in San Vanelona.

There is no known Skate 4 game in development.

MORE: Tony Hawk's Pro Skater Documentary Crowdfunding Ends, Falls Short of Goal