It’s no secret that core skaters aren’t happy right now. Electronic Arts just confirmed that the new Skate game will require an internet connection at all times, with no offline mode at all.
After years of waiting and hoping for Skate 4, skaters were already feeling restless. Now, getting hit with news like this has just made the wait even harder to swallow.
Ever since EA announced the revival of the Skate series back in 2020, players have been holding onto hope. Even with the long stretches of silence and limited updates, the community stuck around, sharing clips from old games, talking about dream features, and counting down to whatever came next. Everyone thought that after more than a decade, EA would deliver something that stayed true to what made the originals so loved. Instead, the latest update feels like a punch in the gut.
EA and developer Full Circle explained that the reason for the always-online setup is because the game world is designed to be a "living, breathing massively multiplayer skateboarding sandbox." Basically, they want players to experience events, city updates, and multiplayer sessions that are constantly changing. That sounds cool for some people but for a lot of skaters, the charm of Skate was always being able to just jump in, skate around, and chill, even without an internet connection.
It’s even more frustrating when you think about the times players just want to skate solo or mess around without worrying about servers, lag, or losing progress during outages. Plus, once the servers eventually shut down and with EA’s track record, that’s not a crazy thought. It sounds like the game might become completely unplayable.
Fans aren't holding back either. Comments online are filled with disappointment, with players saying things like "they didn’t make this game for us" and predicting that it won't live up to the standard Skate 3 set all those years ago. Even though EA plans to make Skate free-to-play, a lot of people are already talking about skipping it altogether.
Meanwhile, the excitement is shifting over to Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4 remasters dropping on July 11th. Sure, there are some concerns there too, but it’s clear that a lot of players would rather bet on a remaster that respects solo play than a new live-service game that demands constant internet.
It’s a rough time if you’ve been dreaming of getting that old Skate magic back. Instead of a celebration, the announcement feels more like a reminder that sometimes, the people making the decisions aren’t the ones who actually understand why the original games mattered so much.