Easy Day Studios has released a new trailer for Skater XL revealing three levels created by members of the community that will be available at launch. The game is set to launch on July 28 to home consoles and PC in a major attempt to secure a position in the skating genre.
The new skateboarding title revealed a level earlier this month based upon real-life skate spots, with the three community-created maps following suit in paying homage to skate culture. The maps were created by the modding community during the game's Early Access run on PC and will be released on home consoles at launch.
Director Dain Hedgpeth outlined in a PlayStation.Blog post the three maps and their creators; "Streets" by Jean-Olive is "several city blocks of skateable territory, from San Francisco-esque hills, to the unique skateable architecture of Spain" including skate spots from Los Angeles and New York, "Hűdland Training Facility" by Pactole is "every skater's dream private skatepark" in a warehouse environment and "Grant Park" by Theo is a recreation of the real-life Chicago skatepark.
Easy Day Studios were so impressed by the work of map designer Theo and programmer/replay editor Kiwi within the modding community that they have joined the California-based studio. According to Hedgpeth, the two modders turned team members "played key roles in the development of the game."
This announcement comes a week after EA CEO Andrew Wilson discussed the potential for user-generated content and community interaction for Skate 4, one of the biggest competitors for Skater XL as a new IP by a young studio. Besides Skate 4, Skater XL will also have competition in Vicarious Visions' Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2, a remaster of the original two games from the Tony Hawk's series set to release on September 4.
Whilst the skating genre has not had many noteworthy entries since the Skate series' last release in 2010, it seems set for revival with the two biggest players returning. Skater XL seems to differentiate itself from the craziness of the Tony Hawk's series with its physics-based gameplay and unique control scheme based upon the joysticks of a game pad being mapped to the feet of the player character. From what has been shown so far, Skater XL is competing more directly with the highly-anticipated Skate 4 for a slice of the skater sim market, but the influence of the Tony Hawk's series cannot be denied. Having user-generated content in a game based upon a culture as diverse as skating is a major selling point for a game having to compete against two established juggernauts.
Skater XL officially releases on July 28 for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
Source: PlayStation.Blog