EA has announced the early access release date of Skate, its upcoming skateboarding sim. It will be available to play on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S starting on Sept. 16.
Skate is an open-world live-service game in which players can freely explore the fictional city of San Vansterdam -- a utopia for skateboarders with enticing corners and challenges everywhere. Off the board, players can parkour through the city or try their hand at various stunts.
Being a live-service title, Skate is free-to-play and will feature optional in-game purchases, such as season passes, which deliver additional content. That's a very different approach from genre king Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, which recently saw a re-release of modernized versions of two of its entries.
Skate is also a multiplayer game, so players can virtually hang out with their friends and skate together, whether competitively or more casually. The ability to spawn objects into the world opens up ways to alter existing areas and create entirely new courses as well.